Aviat Space Envir Md
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Optimal visual acuity is a requirement for piloting aircraft in military and civilian settings. While acuity can be corrected with glasses, spectacle wear can limit or even prohibit use of certain devices such as night vision goggles, helmet mounted displays, and/or chemical protective masks. Although current Army policy is directed toward selection of pilots who do not require spectacle correction for acceptable vision, refractive error can become manifest over time, making optical correction necessary. ⋯ Advanced methods of testing visual resolution, including high and low contrast visual acuity and small letter contrast sensitivity, were used to compare vision achieved with full spectacle correction to that attained with the habitual, contact lens correction. Although the patient was pleased with his habitual correction, vision was significantly better with full spectacle correction, particularly on the small letter contrast test. Implications of these findings are considered.
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Aviat Space Envir Md · Feb 1996
Comparative StudyCancer incidence in United States Air Force aircrew, 1975-89.
We compared the cancer incidence of male United States Air Force (USAF) aircrew (342 cancers, 532,980.97 man-years) with non-flying Air Force officers (827 cancers, 1,084,370.08 man-years) between 1975-89. ⋯ Previous studies of commercial pilots that demonstrated excesses of these cancers may have been biased by the use of external comparison groups. We used an internal comparison population to reduce selection bias, information bias and confounding. From these data we detected notable excess aircrew cancer risk for cancers of the testis, urinary bladder, and all sites combined.