title: [Trends of refractive correction in the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces: examination after the Great East Japan earthquake].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the trends in refractive correction in Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces' (JGSDF) soldiers.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire was distributed to 519 soldiers of the Camp Funaoka in the northeastern region.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five hundred and sixteen subjects (99.4%) responded. In total, 246 soldiers (47.7%) wore spectacles or contact lenses. Among the contact lens wearers, 52 had experienced problems previously and 35 reported problems that occurred during military exercises. With regard to military exercises, 66.9% and 63.5% of the spectacle or disposable soft contact lens-users reported inconvenience. Among contact lens users, 33.1% reported that they changed to new sterilized contact lenses only occasionally and 61.9% did not change their contact lenses at all during exercises. During disaster-relief work, subjects worried 'very' (21.5%) or 'somewhat' (46.9%) about problems associated with their spectacles or contact lenses. Twenty-four had undergone refractive surgery (4.9%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  About one-half of the JGSDF soldiers surveyed required refractive correction. Attention to convenient and safe refractive correction in the military is warranted.
authors.forename: Kouzo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harimoto
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Takuhei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shoji
authors.forename: Hiroya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tokuno
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003261:Contact Lenses; D055866:Earthquakes; D005139:Eyeglasses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000175:diagnosis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*