title: Evaluation of extended wear soft and rigid contact lens use by Army aviators.
abstract: Aviation systems incorporating sophisticated electro-optical displays frequently are designed without provision for use by spectacle-wearing pilots. Contact lenses offer a solution to the compatibility problems experienced by Army aviators, approximately 18% of whom wear corrective lenses. Under a waiver from The Surgeon General, 44 helicopter pilots performed flying duties while wearing extended-wear soft and rigid lenses. Pilots remained in the study for a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 24 months. Six experienced temporary discontinuance of wear (4-19 days); and six withdrew from the study. An overall wearing success rate of 86% was achieved. No pilot was grounded due to contact lens-related problems. Subjectively, extended wear contact lenses favorably affected job performance. This is the first major field evaluation of contact lens use by U.S. Army aviators while flying military aircraft.
authors.affiliation: University of Missouri-St. Louis, School of Optometry, MO 63121.
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Bachman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000337:Aerospace Medicine; D003261:Contact Lenses; D003262:Contact Lenses, Extended-Wear; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000628:therapy*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014481:United States; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology