Topic or problem investigated.Cross-sectional analysis of the health situation of persons deprived of liberty in the Unidad de Atención Integral (UAI) 20 de diciembre de 1979, in comparison with the Costa Rican penitentiary system.Main results achieved.The demographic data of the UAI are congruent with those found at the level of the national prison system. With regard to the social determinants of health, food and daily life, crime and average stay in prison do not seem to have a direct impact on the final health outcome, with prevalence rates of chronic non-communicable diseases and incidence of communicable diseases and morbidity being very similar in the UAI and the Costa Rican prison system, Therefore, it is reasonable to infer that the evaluation of the health and disease profile of persons deprived of liberty in the UAI December 20, 1979 can be extrapolated to the rest of the Costa Rican penitentiary system, so that these data can initially be used as national indicators for making health decisions in the Costa Rican penitentiary system.