Abstract
Background: Forensic laboratory activity can be described using samples received and tests performed, but these units do not identify unique individuals or population exposure. Regional comparisons require consistent geographical aggregation and an explicit distinction between biological specimens and seized-item samples. This analysis examines the Western analytical grouping while retaining comparisons across all thirteen Saudi administrative regions.
Methods: We reconstructed the complete reported service table in the publicly available Ministry of Health Statistical Yearbook 2024, Table 4-58. Official reporting-unit labels were mapped to the thirteen administrative regions before aggregation into five separately defined analytical groups. We calculated tests per recorded sample and the proportion of samples described as seized items. Source totals were reconciled against the published national row. The source was inspected before the analysis plan was drafted; the work is therefore an exploratory administrative-data reanalysis. No sampling confidence intervals, causal models or patient-level poisoning estimates were generated.
Results: The Western grouping, comprising Makkah and Madinah, recorded five units, 117,357 biological samples, 34,965 seized-item samples, 152,322 total samples and 608,801 tests. Its tests-per-recorded-sample ratio was 3.997, and seized-item samples represented 22.95% of its recorded sample total. Makkah recorded 118,236 samples and 458,963 tests, compared with 34,086 samples and 149,838 tests in Madinah. The corresponding ratios were 3.882 and 4.396. Across the five analytical groups, the ratio was 3.544 in Central, 5.489 in Eastern, 2.919 in Southern and 3.450 in Northern. All reconstructed national counts matched the published table.
Conclusions: The Western grouping accounted for a substantial recorded laboratory workload, with different ratios within its constituent administrative regions. These results characterize reported services and support questions about assay mix, referral pathways and counting rules. They do not establish poisoning prevalence, numbers of affected people, laboratory quality or comparative efficiency.
Keywords
- Forensic Sciences
- Forensic Toxicology
- Laboratories
- Workload
- Saudi Arabia
Declarations
- Ethics approval
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- Consent to participate
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- Consent for publication
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- Funding
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- Competing interests
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- Author contributions
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- Data availability
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- Registration
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- Acknowledgements
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