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Abstract
Aims To examine the association between colour vision deficiency (CVD) and other ophthalmic disorders including amblyopia, strabismus and ametropia in a large population study.
Methods The retrospective, cross-sectional study included 916 388 Israeli army male recruits who had their premilitary medical assessment at the age of 16–18 years from 2000 to 2020, analysing the prevalence of ophthalmic disorders including amblyopia, strabismus and ametropia in army recruits with CVD compared with all other recruits with normal colour vision. Demographic and socioeconomic data were also collected.
Results The prevalence of amblyopia (1.28% vs 0.71%, p<0.001), strabismus (1.09% vs 0.83%, p<0.001) and ametropia (moderate—less than 6.00 diopters, 35.05% vs 30.50%, p<0.001 and high—higher than 6.00 diopters, 3.18% vs 2.30%, p<0.001) were all higher among 28 001 (3.06%) army recruits with CVD compared with all other individuals with normal colour vision. CVD was more common in individuals with a higher socioeconomic status (high 3.15% vs low 2.93%, p<0.001) and varied according to recruits’ origin. It was most frequent in individuals whose mother was born in the former Soviet Union (4.98%) compared with other European countries (3.89%), North America (3.28%), Asia (2.78%) and Ethiopia (1.63%).
Conclusion CVD is associated with an increased frequency of amblyopia, strabismus and ametropia, which can all impart vision difficulties besides colour vision impairment alone.
- Colour vision
- Epidemiology
- Public health
Data availability statement
Data are available upon reasonable request.
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Data availability statement
Data are available upon reasonable request.
Footnotes
Contributors Study design: EB, EG and GD. Data collection: MS, EG and YR. Analysis and interpretation of the data: MS, AG and GD. Writing of the draft: EB, MS and EG. Revision of the draft: YR, AG and GD. Guarantor: GD. Approval of the final manuscript and decision to submit the paper for publication: EB, MS, EG, YR, AG and GD.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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