PREVALENCE OF CONGENITAL COLOR BLINDNESS IN INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL STUDENTS IN TEHRAN

An epidemiologic study was conducted to determine the incidence of color blindness in secondary school students (age 12-14). A total of 2058 students (1136 boys and 922 girls) were examined with Ishihara pseudoisochromatic color plates Considering the special test conditions, best corrected vision was recorded for each individual. In the study population, 97 cases of defective color vision were detected including 93 males and 4 females. The affected individuales all had negative histories of previous systemic and ocular disease and long term use of drugs. The visual acuity was 20/20 and the fundus was normal in all affected students. The results of this study are summarized as follows:1- Defective color vision in boys: 8.18%(93 cases) Deuteranomaly: 4.93%(56 cases) Protanomaly: 1.14%(13 cases) Deuteranopia: 1.14% (13 cases) Protanopia: 0.97% (11 cases) 2-Defective color vision in girls: 0.43% (4 cases) Deuteranomaly: 0.32% (3 cases) Protanomaly : 0.11% (1 case) In female students deuteranopia and protanopia was not detected. Statistical analysis shows that there is no significant difference between the incidence of color blindness as reported in this study compared to the prevalence of color blindness as reported in Western, including American medical literature.