Performance decrement due to altered vision while wearing a respiratory face mask

The purpose of this investigation was to determine performance decrement due to altered vision while wearing a respiratory face mask. Lenses clouded to visual acuities of 20/64, 20/38, 20/34, 20/28, 20/23, 20/20, and 20/15 were applied to each mask while subjects performed a battery of vision tests involving tracking and hand-eye coordination skills. Generally, performance decrement followed a significant curvilinear pattern as visual acuity worsened. These findings warrant the need to investigate the transfer of this performance decrement to skills that are inherent to military-type tasks.