Prevalence of sub-types and severity of red-green color vision deficiency in medical students of Karachi

ABSTRACT

The study aims to find out the prevalence of sub-types and severity of red-green color vision deficiency in medical students of Karachi. It was a cross sectional study conducted on the students of Karachi Medical and Dental College and Dow University of Health Sciences. With Convenient sampling, 550 healthy medical students [185 males and 365 females] were tested by using pseudo-isochromatic plates of 24-plates Ishihara chart. The data is presented in the form of numbers and percentages. 10 [5.4%] out of 185 males while only 01 [0.26%] out of 365 females were found to have red-green color vision deficiency. In males, 03 [1.62%] were Protans and 07 [3.78%] were Deutans. Protanomaly was detected in 01[0.54%], protanopia in 02 [1.08%], deuteranomaly in 02 [1.08%], deuteranopia in 05 [2.70%]. In females, the only case found was deuteranopia, 01 [0.26%]. By conducting screening for all medical students for diagnosing and detecting the sub-types and severity of CVD and provision of adaptive strategies and behavioral support will help them to deal with the potential difficulties, which could be overcome by awareness, self-training and effort. Moreover it is strictly advisable to avoid certain subspecialties as a career of choice