Colour vision screening among Saudi Arabian children

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of congenital red-green colour vision defects among Saudi Arabian male and female children.

Methods: The study involved 1638 elementary and high school participants (838 males, and 800 females), who were randomly selected and screened for red-green colour vision defects using the Ishihara (pseudo-isochromatic plates) test. Inclusion criteria were Snellen VA 20/20 or better and absence of known ocular pathologies.Among the females, 0.75% of the 800 participants showed CVD, with 0.25% and 0.5% demonstratingprotan and deutan defects, respectively.

Conclusion: The results show that the prevalence of red-green colour deficiency among the female children from central Saudi Arabia is not significantly different from that of female populations inwestern countries.  The current prevalence among the males is higher than previously reported for central Saudi Arabia, but less than for Caucasian populations.