BackgroundThe use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs have a significant impact on the daily lives of older adults. In order to study the relationship between substance use, health and care variables in older adults.

The aim of this study was to explore the relation between the problematic consumption of drugs and some variables: age, time of imprisonment, education, legal situation, committing a crime under drugs effect and number of visits received. Data of inmates who had accepted they were consuming drugs at the moment of doing the study was analyzed. It was found that the problematic consumers were younger and had less time of imprisonment. The inmates with less education, the ones who were being processed at the moment of doing the study, the ones who had committed crimes under the drugs effect and the ones who did not receive any visit showed more problems (measured through the DAST questionnaire) associated to the consumption. Some hypotheses about the results are discussed.