Visual characteristics of Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers.

Background: The Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) had 902 troopers on duty at the time of this study. The purpose of this study was to determine, for the first time, the visual characteristics of this group.

Methods: All 902 troopers were requested to be screened during early 1993 at their local MSHP troop headquarters. Vision screening was done by Department of Motor Vehicle Personnel using Keystone/Mast DVS II Driver Vision Screeners. The results, along with current prescriptions obtained from their eye care practitioners, were mailed to the author.

Results: A 94 percent response rate was achieved. The group's mean age was 38.7 years and most (98 percent) were male. Forty-seven percent wear an optical correction either some or all of the time and these were evenly divided between single vision and multifocal corrections. Seventy-four percent of eyes had uncorrected distance acuity of 20/20 increasing to 94 percent of eyes with 20/20 when corrections were worn.

Conclusions: The results of this study will be used as a basis to update MSHP vision standards for acquisition and retention of troopers.