comparison of red-green color vision deficiency between medical and non-medical students in Pakistan

ABSTRACT

To investigate the prevalence of red-green color vision deficiency [CVD] among medical and dental students compared with non-medical students. This descriptive, cross-sectional study compared the prevalence of CVD between medical and non-medical Pakistani students. A total of 926 medical and dental students from Baqai Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan were compared with 7288 non-medical students from Nadirshaw Edulji Dinshaw University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan, and Pakistan Air Force [PAF] Public Schools [Muree and Sargodha], Pakistan. Standard Ishihara color vision charts were used, which provided an accurate assessment of CVD. More than 3 mistakes from plates 10-17 identified students as having red green CVD. The study was carried out from September 2003 to December 2008. The overall prevalence of CVD in the study population was 2.75%. They were no significant differences between male students in engineering college versus medical college [2.7% versus 4.4%, p=0.125], or between schools and universities [3.1% versus 3.1%, p=0.930]. A small proportion of the Pakistani population suffers from red-green CVD, more prominent in males. We found no differences between students in engineering college versus medical college, or between schools and universities in different geographical locations within Pakistan