{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T11:01:32Z","timestamp":1789988492550,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789948800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Clin. Pract.","Clinics and Practice"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Aim: This study was conducted to assess, for the first time, patterns in common drugs of abuse detected in urine samples from a large series of patients treated at a tertiary university hospital and the role of age and sex in these patterns. Methods: This study included samples from all patients analyzed at the Dr. Negr\u00edn University Hospital Laboratory from January 2021 to December 2025 with positive immunoassay test results for at least one of the following substances of abuse: cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine\/methamphetamine, or opioids. The samples were anonymized, and only the patient\u2019s sex and date of birth were included in the analysis. Results: In total, there were 5019 positive results for at least one of the substances screened (cannabis, opioids, amphetamine, or cocaine). Women represented only 28.2% of all patients with a positive test (p &lt; 0.0001). Substance positivity was strongly influenced by age. Cannabis positivity was observed in 2989 cases (59.9%) and was very high in the younger age groups, consistently declining towards age 65 (94% for &lt;18 years vs. 16.2% for &gt;65 years) (p &lt; 0.0001). In contrast, amphetamine (15.9%) and opioid (13.9%) use rose consistently from 7.5% and 0.7%, respectively, among patients aged &lt;18 years, to 61.3% and 23.1%, respectively, in the &gt;65 age group (p &lt; 0.0001). Cocaine positivity (45.6%) was very low at early ages (5.4% for &lt;18 years group), increased in middle age (62%: 36\u201355 years group), and decreased in older age (11.9% for &gt;65 years group) (p &lt; 0.0001). Conclusions: With more than five thousand samples analyzed, our study sheds light on the profile of substance abuse in a large population of patients attending a university hospital. Our results can help to better adjust preventive political actions and medical care, in the context of substance abuse.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/clinpract16090173","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T09:01:38Z","timestamp":1789981298000},"page":"173","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Patterns of Detecting Substances of Abuse in a Large Series of Patients in Spain During 2021\u20132025"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-2095-8451","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carmen","family":"Lara-Apolinario","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Preventive Medicine and Public Health Department, Infanta Elena University Hospital, 28342 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Medicine Department, Fernando Pessoa Canarias University, 35450 Gu\u00eda, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"software","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"visualization","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Cesar","family":"Martinez-Carral","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medicine Department, Fernando Pessoa Canarias University, 35450 Gu\u00eda, Spain"},{"name":"Preventive Medicine and Public Health Department, Cruces University Hospital, 48903 Barakaldo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-1927-4054","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Desiree","family":"Fischetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory Medicine Department, Dr. Negr\u00edn University Hospital, 35010 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"software","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"visualization","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Adexe J.","family":"Fulgencio-Gonz\u00e1lez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory Medicine Department, Dr. Negr\u00edn University Hospital, 35010 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Casimira","family":"Dom\u00ednguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory Medicine Department, Dr. Negr\u00edn University Hospital, 35010 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"software","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"visualization","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1709-6232","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pedro C.","family":"Lara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medicine Department, Fernando Pessoa Canarias University, 35450 Gu\u00eda, Spain"},{"name":"Canarian Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Roque University Hospital, 35001 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain"},{"name":"Canarian Institute of Cancer Research, 38320 La Laguna, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"(2026, July 13). 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