A preliminary study on using non-mydriatic fundus camera for aircrew members annual physical examination

Objective To investigate the ocular fundus disease in aircrew members and explore the role of ocular fundus camera in clinical aviation medicine.Methods The ocular fundus of pilots, air controllers and flight engineers were examined by direct ophthalmoloscope and non-mydriatic fundus camera during annual physical examination.Results 1212 aircrew members were examined and 723 subjects were examined by both methods.In latter,219 subjects were found to have abnormal ocular fundus.The most abnormal was retinal arteriosclerosis and was about 14.2%.The secondary abnormal were diabetic retinopathy and macular diseases and were about 5.6% and 5.7% respectively. The accordant rate of two methods was 92.4% and Kappa value was 0.81.Compared with direct ophthalmoscope method,additional 54 abnormal ocular fundus cases were found by non-mydriatic fundus camera.Conclusions Non-mydriatic fundus camera technique is a convenient and objective method to record abnormal retinal images.It is fit for medical physical examination and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events risk factor prediction in aviation medicine.