Color vision deficiency in a middle-aged population: the Shahroud Eye Study

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of color vision defects in the middle-age population of Shahroud, Iran. We selected 6,311 people from the 40- to 64-year-old population through random cluster sampling. Color vision testing was performed with the Farnsworth D-15. Cases with similar and symmetric results in both eyes were classified as hereditary, and those with asymmetric results were considered acquired. Cases that did not conform to standard patterns were classified as unknown category. Of 5,190 respondents (response rate 82.2 %), 5,102 participants underwent the color vision test. Of these, 14.7 % (95 % confidence interval 13.7–15.6) had some type of color vision deficiency. Of the 2,157 male participants, 6.2 % were hereditary and 10.2 % were acquired and of the 2,945 female participants, 3.1 % were hereditary and 10 % were acquired. Hereditary color deficiencies were mostly of the deutan form (63.8 %), and acquired deficiencies were mostly tritan (66.1 %). The prevalence of hereditary and acquired color vision deficiency, as well as different types of red–green and blue–yellow color vision defects significantly increased with age (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the pattern of color vision defects among the middle-aged population of Shahroud was significantly different from that seen in the younger population. This could be due to changes associated with age, gender, medical and ocular conditions, and differences in race and environment. Thus, results of previous examinations and the overall health status should be considered before making any judgment about the status of color vision in middle-aged people.

[1]  A. Pinckers.  Color vision and age. , 1980, Ophthalmologica. Journal international d'ophtalmologie. International journal of ophthalmology. Zeitschrift fur Augenheilkunde.

[2]  S. Saw,et al.  Red‐green colour blindness in Singaporean children , 2008, Clinical & experimental ophthalmology.

[3]  M. Easterbrook,et al.  Detection of color vision defects in chloroquine retinopathy. , 1999, Ophthalmology.

[4]  R. McCarley,et al.  Color discrimination in schizophrenia , 2002, Schizophrenia Research.

[5]  H. Dargahi,et al.  Color blindness defect and medical laboratory technologists: unnoticed problems and the care for screening. , 2010, Acta medica Iranica.

[6]  Bevil R. Conway,et al.  Advances in Color Science: From Retina to Behavior , 2010, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[7]  H. Przuntek,et al.  Progress of visual dysfunction in Parkinson's disease , 2002, Acta neurologica Scandinavica.

[8]  M. Çıtırık,et al.  Congenital Color Blindness in Young Turkish Men , 2005, Ophthalmic epidemiology.

[9]  A. Motulsky,et al.  Molecular genetics of X chromosome-linked color vision among populations of African and Japanese ancestry: high frequency of a shortened red pigment gene among Afro-Americans. , 1990, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[10]  G. Paramei,et al.  Color vision impairment in type 2 diabetes assessed by the D‐15d test and the Cambridge Colour Test , 2010, Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians.

[11]  Mohammad Afzal,et al.  Prevalence of Red-Green Color Vision Defects among Muslim Males and Females of Manipur, India , 2013, Iranian journal of public health.

[12]  J. Birch.  Identification of red–green colour deficiency: sensitivity of the Ishihara and American Optical Company (Hard, Rand and Rittler) pseudo‐isochromatic plates to identify slight anomalous trichromatism , 2010, Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians.

[13]  H. Philippe,et al.  How color visual pigments are tuned , 1999 .

[14]  A. Barikani,et al.  Prevalence of Color Vision Deficiency in Qazvin , 2014 .

[15]  S A Cotter,et al.  Evaluation of a new color vision test: "color vision testing made easy". , 1999, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[16]  P. Lanthony,et al.  The desaturated panel D-15 , 1978, Documenta Ophthalmologica.

[17]  Anthony M Brown,et al.  Impairment of color vision in aircraft maintenance workers , 2011, International archives of occupational and environmental health.

[18]  Leo Maurice Hurvich,et al.  Color vision , 1981 .

[19]  S. Lahiri,et al.  Effects on colour discrimination during long term exposure to high altitudes on Mt Everest , 2010, British Journal of Ophthalmology.

[20]  M. Attarchi,et al.  Occupational exposure to different levels of mixed organic solvents and colour vision impairment. , 2010, Neurotoxicology and teratology.

[21]  A. Nemet,et al.  The correlation between visual acuity and color vision as an indicator of the cause of visual loss. , 2010, American journal of ophthalmology.

[22]  F. Yu,et al.  Contrast sensitivity and color vision in HIV-infected individuals without infectious retinopathy. , 2006, American journal of ophthalmology.

[23]  P. Lennie,et al.  Mechanisms of color vision. , 1988, Critical reviews in neurobiology.

[24]  C. Klaver,et al.  Comprehensive analysis of the achromatopsia genes CNGA3 and CNGB3 in progressive cone dystrophy. , 2010, Ophthalmology.

[25]  A. Cavalleri,et al.  Color vision impairment in workers exposed to neurotoxic chemicals. , 2003, Neurotoxicology.

[26]  A. Berezovsky,et al.  Multifocal Electroretinography, Color Discrimination and Ocular Toxicity in Tamoxifen Use , 2007, Current eye research.

[27]  B. Stengel,et al.  Color vision and occupational toluene exposure. , 2001, Neurotoxicology and Teratology.

[28]  G. Kalantzis,et al.  Acquired color vision and visual field defects in patients with ocular hypertension and early glaucoma , 2009, Clinical ophthalmology.

[29]  Jocelyn Faubert,et al.  The role of lenticular senescence in age-related color vision changes. , 2003, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[30]  Paul L. Pease,et al.  Chapter 9 – Color Vision , 2006 .

[31]  D. Foster,et al.  Color constancy of red-green dichromats and anomalous trichromats. , 2010, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[32]  B. Cole,et al.  Does the Farnsworth D15 test predict the ability to name colours? , 2003, Clinical & experimental optometry.

[33]  Mussaed Alabdelmoneam.  Prevalence of congenital color vision defects in Saudi females of Arab origin. , 2011, Optometry.

[34]  William J. Benjamin,et al.  Borish's clinical refraction , 1998 .

[35]  F. Ascaso,et al.  An Unusual Case of Cocaine-Induced Maculopathy , 2009, European journal of ophthalmology.

[36]  R. Armstrong,et al.  A quantitative analysis of optic nerve axons in elderly control subjects and patients with Alzheimer's disease. , 2005, Folia neuropathologica.

[37]  G. Peyman,et al.  Prevalence of congenital color deficiencies in secondary-school students in Tehran , 2004, International Ophthalmology.

[38]  J. Lawrenson,et al.  Acquired colour vision deficiency in patients receiving digoxin maintenance therapy , 2002, The British journal of ophthalmology.

[39]  J. Pokorny,et al.  Achromatic parvocellular contrast gain in normal and color defective observers: Implications for the evolution of color vision , 2006, Visual Neuroscience.

[40]  S. Dain,et al.  Clinical colour vision tests , 2004, Clinical & experimental optometry.

[41]  E. Miyahara.  Errors reading the Ishihara pseudoisochromatic plates made by observers with normal colour vision , 2008, Clinical & experimental optometry.

[42]  Carol Lakkis,et al.  The new Richmond HRR pseudoisochromatic test for colour vision is better than the Ishihara test , 2006, Clinical & experimental optometry.

[43]  S. E. Bradshaw,et al.  Cataracts in airline pilots: prevalence and aeromedical considerations in Japan. , 2009, Aviation, space, and environmental medicine.