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Contact Lens Wear, Corneal Complications, and U.S. Service Member Readiness
Gerald Flanagan1, Tom Velez1, Weidong Gu2
1Computer Technology Associates, Inc., 543 W. Graaf Ave., Ridgecrest, CA 93555.
Military Medicine
|July 18, 2020
Summary
Contact lens wear significantly increases the risk of ulcerative keratitis (UK) and corneal infiltrative events (CIE) in service members. This study supports restrictions on contact lens use to maintain military readiness.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Military Health
- Public Health
Background:
- Ulcerative keratitis (UK), or corneal ulcer, is a serious eye condition impacting vision and military readiness.
- Contact lens (CL) wear is a known risk factor for corneal infiltrative events (CIE), leading to restrictions for many service members.
Purpose of the Study:
- To estimate the prevalence of UK and CIE within a large Department of Defense/Veterans Affairs (DoD/VA) database.
- To quantify the association between contact lens wear and the risk of developing UK and CIE.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the DoD/VA Defense and Veterans Eye Injury Vision Registry.
- Employed natural language processing to identify corneal injuries and CL wear data.
- Assessed the impact on readiness by analyzing clinic visit durations.
Main Results:
- Identified 213 UK cases among 27,402 service members.
- Contact lens wear showed significantly higher odds ratios for UK (13.34) and CIE (2.20).
- CL wearers with corneal disease required more clinic visits.
Conclusions:
- The findings strongly support current restrictions on contact lens wear for non-pilot active duty service members.
- Contact lens use poses a quantifiable, significantly enhanced risk for corneal ulcers.
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