Objectives This study draws on a sample of male military recruits in Saudi Arabia as a proxy for the population more generally. It uses standard admission health checks to investigate health problems, including hereditary disease and substance misuse. Methods We adopted a retrospective review design involving 2,518 men who were new military recruits and were screened over 3 months from July to September 2014 in the Al-Morooj health center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The research unit at the MSD collected the data through trained research assistants. The data entry and management was conducted by the first author. The results of the screening process using descriptive statistics, the Chi-squared test of association and odds ratios. Results Of the screened recruits, 4.7% were carriers or affected by sickle cell disease, 3.2% suffered from color blindness, 0.5% tested positive for hepatitis B and 0.1% tested positive for hepatitis C. 3.1% tested positive for illegal substances, with 90% of those testing positive for cannabis, and 10% for amphetamines. The Chi-squared test results showed statistically significant association between the region of residence and Sickle Cell Disease (P<0.001) Southern Region (OR=5.68) and the Eastern Region (OR=5.20). Region of residence and abnormalities in the left-eye (P=0.048) Western Region (OR=3.02). Conclusions The military screening program can be utilized as a useful tool for screening health status in the country if some of the limitations of this program are tackled efficiently.
