The Prevalence of Color Vision Deficiency in Medical Students at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences

This study aimed to identify the prevalence of Color Vision Deficiency (CVD) and its contributing factors among medical students enrolled at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

In this cross-sectional study, 522 students from King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, participated. The student filled out the questionnaire immediately after completing the Ishihara test. Data analyses were conducted in SPSS.

Of 522 students, 29.9% were females, and 70.1% were males. The prevalence of CVD in medical students was 1.5%, with 98.3% of students having normal vision while 0.2% had small changes or misdiagnosed CVD. All eight students with a definitive diagnosis of CVD were males, with a significant association (p=0.04) between sex and CVD status. There was a significant association of CVD status with the familial history of CVD (p=0.002) and history of congenital color vision abnormality (p=0.0342). No significant associations were found for the knowledge of CVD, history of vision problems, eye surgery, eye or head trauma, any exposure to chemicals, current health status, and vitamin A intake.

The CVD prevalence reported by our study is the lowest compared to all other studies in medical students worldwide. A considerable number of medical students were unaware of their vision problems. Therefore, preliminary screening of all school-going students is recommended to ensure they are aware of their medical condition and minimize the potential difficulties faced during studies and clinical work.