Evaluating health-related behaviours of armed forces personnel in Kuwait: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Evidence is lacking regarding the health-related behaviours of the military force in Kuwait. This study compared health-related behaviours of active-duty armed forces personnel according to their service branch and rank.

Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, an online questionnaire was developed to collect, via text messages, anonymised data from 392 armed forces personnel on their sociodemographics, health status, smoking, physical activity and desire for mental healthcare.

Results: Most of the participants were non-officers (80.35%) from 'other' service branch (48.10%), had ≤10 years of military service (64.46%) and were Kuwaitis (79.97%) aged 18-39 years (77.62%) and rated their physical and mental health as 'good', with no chronic diseases (93.28%), although 53.13% were overweight and 8.55% were obese, and the prevalence of obesity increased with age. The survey revealed a high prevalence of physical inactivity (65.48%), which increased with age as well as a high prevalence of smoking (82.66%). Almost half of the respondents (46.21%) believed that seeking mental health help could probably damage their military career, this belief significantly increased with age.

Conclusion: Although most of the Kuwaiti armed forces personnel reported having 'good' physical and mental health, with no chronic diseases, there was a high prevalence among them of overweight, smoking and low physical activity levels, with no difference between service branches or ranks. Moreover, the stigma of having mental health problems and the fear of the negative effects of seeking mental healthcare on a career were prevalent among the participants. These data are helpful in informing policy and development programmes that meet the needs of armed forces personnel.