Prevalence of spectacle wear among U.S. Army aviators

The advanced avionic and electro-optical systems installed in Army rotary wing aircraft are becoming increasingly incompatible with spectacle wear. Therefore, the prevalence of spectacle wear among Army aviators is an important consideration in the development of future systems. A review of spectacle prevalence data from the Aviation Epidemiology Data Register (AEDR) for the years 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989 was performed. Data were consistent across all 4 years, with mean prevalence of spectacle wear being 22% for active component forces. Reserve and National Guard components displayed mean spectacle wear prevalences of 27% and 32%, respectively. These prevalence rates are higher than those previously obtained in 1985 by a similar, but slightly different paradigm. 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.