A Field Study on Soft Contact Lens Wear in USAF Military Transport Aircraft.
Abstract
Contact lens wear as an alternative to spectacles for the correction of refractive errors in USAF aircrewmembers remains a controversial issue. Military transport aircrew must contend with reduced oxygen levels (typical cabin pressures of 5,000 to 8,000 ft), low relative humidity (10-15%), cigarette smoke, and fatigue and stress on long missions. Ten subjects wearing soft contact lenses and 6 control subjects not wearing contact lenses were evaluated visually and with a slit lamp onboard a C-5 aircraft on a routine mission to PACAF. Soft contact lens wearers noted no significant loss of visual acuity or contrast sensitivity during the flights. Some measures of corneal physiological stress (conjunctival injection, tear debris, etc.) were evaluated in both contact lens wearers and controls. Lens dehydration from the low relative humidity may have been the primary cause of the corneal physiological stress in the contact lens wearers. The results indicate that although there are increased physiological stresses on the cornea in the aircraft environment, there was not sufficient degradation in visual performance or lens comfort to preclude soft contact lens wear in military transport aircraft. Keywords: Soft contact lens, Aviation, Altitude, Cornea, Relative humidity, Visual acuity, Contrast sensitivity. (KT)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA195962
Entities
People
- Carolyn J. Oakley
- Richard J. Dennis
- Thomas J. Tredici
- William J. Flynn
Organizations
- United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine