Prevalence of Spectacle Wear among U.S. Army Aviators
Abstract
The advanced avionic and electro-optical systems installed within Army rotary wing aircraft are becoming increasingly incompatible with spectacle wear. Therefore, the prevalence of spectacle wear among Army aviators is an important factor to take into account in the development of future systems. A review of spectacle prevalence data within the Aviation Epidemiology Data Register (AEDR) for the years 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989 was performed. Data were consistent across all four years, with mean prevalence of spectacle wear being 22.25 percent for active component forces. Over the same four-year period, Reserve and National Guard forces displayed mean spectacle-wear prevalences of 27 percent and 32 percent, respectively. These prevalence rates are higher than those previously obtained in 1985 by a similar but slightly different paradigm. The prevalence of presbyopic aviators by this query is also higher than previous appraisals. In conclusion, spectacle-wearing aviators exist in greater numbers than previously documented, and represent a segment of the aviation population that will have increasing compatibility problems with advanced flight systems. Therefore, system planners will need to address these incompatibilities in future hardware developments.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA227583
Entities
People
- Morris R. Lattimore
- Robert H. Schrimsher
Organizations
- United States Army Aeromedical Research Lab