The adequacy of corrective lenses worn by United States Air Force aviators for annual flight medical examinations.

Aviators presenting for annual flight medical examinations at the 379th Strategic Hospital at Wurtsmith Air Force Base were studied to determine the prevalence of substandard visual acuity. The prevalence of the use of outdated (superseded) corrective lenses was also studied. We conducted 342 examinations on different aviators and 92 (26.9%) of these aviators were found to require corrective lenses. There were 23 (6.7%) aviators who were found to have inadequate visual acuity and 14 of these (4.1%) were found to be wearing superseded lenses. The visual screening method prescribed by the United States Air Force did not identify four of the aviators who wore superseded lenses. Three aviators were found to be wearing lenses obtained from civil sources. The study suggests that improvements could be made in U.S. Air Force visual screening and care.