Binocular Visual Acuity and Corrective Lens Use in the United States Army

To assess uncorrected and corrected distance and near binocular visual acuity (VA) and the use of corrective lenses in U.S. Army Active Duty, Guard, and Reserve Soldiers.

A descriptive statistical analysis of VA group data from the U.S. Army Vision Readiness Classification Screening system was performed. Data pulls from June 2012 to January 2015 were compared.

In January 2015, 62.3% of Soldiers had an uncorrected binocular distance VA of 20/20, 21.2% of Soldiers were worse than 20/40, and 41.4% of Soldiers wore corrective eyewear for distance vision. With correction, 92.5% had a binocular distance VA of 20/20 and 1.4% were worse than 20/40. In January 2015, 32.6% of Soldiers age >45 had an uncorrected binocular near VA of 20/20, 28.4% of Soldiers age >45 were worse than 20/40, and 61.9% of Soldiers age >45 wore corrective eyewear for near vision. With correction, 74.6% had a binocular near VA of 20/20 and 3.0% were worse than 20/40. Data for both years were similar, although there were differences between individual service components.

In comparison to the U.S. adult population, U.S. Army Soldiers have better uncorrected and corrected vision and are less likely to wear vision correction.