A proposed correction in the weighted method to score the Ishihara test

OBJECTIVE: Ishihara test is a color vision test, whose results consider that all plates of the test have the same weighting. Rodriguez-Carmona et al. (Aviat Space Environ Med 83:19–29, 2012) proposed an equation to quantify the Ishihara test results (severity index), which took an account the rate of hits from the different plates of the test considering the performance of trichromat or colorblind population. We proposed a correction in Rodiguez-Carmona’s equation for the severity index. We evaluated 60 normal trichromats and 107 subjects with congenital color deficiency. We calculated three indexes to quantify the results of each subject: a non-weighted index, a weighted index similar to the Rodriguez-Carmona et al., and a weighted index modified which combined the hit frequency for each plate in a trichromat population and of the error reading frequency for each plate in color-blind populations. RESULTS: Compared to the non-weighted evaluation, the weighted index was reduced by 22.95%, 32.92%, and 35.38% from trichromats, protan and deutan groups, respectively. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analysis showed perfect performance of the classifier for all metrics to measure the Ishihara test results. The proposal correction changed significantly the value of the index, but the overall benefits were small. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-019-4320-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.