The Prevalence of Congenital Color Vision Abnormality Among Patients Attending a Tertiary Eye Care Center in Southern India

Background and objective Color vision abnormality is a condition where the faculty to identify one or more primary colors is either defective (anomalous) or absent (anopia). Occupations like armed forces, merchant navy, navigation, and police and fire services require normal color vision. There is a scarcity of data in the literature regarding the prevalence of congenital color vision abnormality in patients in South India. In light of this, the present study aimed to find the prevalence of congenital color vision abnormality in patients attending the Outpatient Department (OPD) at a tertiary eye care center in South India. Materials and methods This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at a tertiary eye care center in South India from December 2014 to December 2016. Patients with a best-corrected visual acuity of 20/20, normal direct and consensual pupillary light reflex, normal anterior segment, and undilated fundus examination were included. Color vision was assessed using Ishihara pseudoisochromatic plates, American Optical Hardy-Rand-Rittler (AO HRR), and then the Farnsworth Munsell D15 arrangement test. All the results were tabulated and statistically analyzed. Statistical significance was calculated using the ANOVA test. Results A total of 371 patients were screened for color vision abnormality; 184 (49.59%) patients were males and 187 (50.40%) were females. Out of 371 patients in the study, 363 (98.10%) had normal color vision while eight patients (2.16%) had color vision abnormality. Of the eight patients with color vision abnormalities, six (75%) had abnormal color vision on all three tests and two (25%) had an abnormality on only two tests (Ishihara and AO HRR). Out of 184 males in the study, eight patients (4.34%) had abnormal color vision while none of the 187 females had color vision abnormality; this difference was statistically significant (p=0.03). Conclusions Early diagnosis and providing education and awareness of this condition are necessary as part of guiding young people with regard to their career options and we recommend that all children should undergo color vision screening before entering high school.