Objective To investigate the spectrum of disease in the elderly males by physical examination and analyze the increase of detection rate of major chronic diseases among them. Methods A total of 658 elderly males who took regular physical examination in a military upper first-class hospital during March to July 2015 were enrolled in this study. They were divided into 3 groups according to their age, that is 60-69 years group (n=313), 70-79 years group (n=182) and ≥80 years group (n=163). Their demographic characteristics, history of chronic diseases, lifestyle and other information were collected and analyzed. Results In the subjects, the prevalence of chronic diseases was up to 86.2%, and the average types of chronic diseases were 2.4±1.7. There were 67.0% of the participants having 2 or more chronic diseases, and 41.9% having 3 or more. The prevalence went up to 92.0% among those participants aged ≥80 years. The top 5 chronic diseases were dyslipidemia (37.1%), prostatic hyperplasia (32.9%), hypertension (32.5%), fatty liver (28.5%) and cataract (17.5%). With the increase of age, the subjects had more chronic diseases (P<0.001). Through this physical examination, the detection rate of hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia were increased by 7.6%, 0.1% and 10.0% respectively. Conclusion The prevalence of major chronic diseases is high in the subjects by physical examination. The comorbidity of many chronic diseases is common, and a variety of health risk factors coexist. Annual routine physical examination and comprehensive assessment can improve the detection rate of major chronic diseases, and provide scientific data for early diagnosis and treatment.