Prevalence of color blindness among school-going children under 16 years of age in Anand, Gujarat
Mansi Priyadarshan Panchal, Harsha Chetan JaniAbstract
Context:
Color blindness is marked by a diminished ability to accurately perceive or differentiate certain color shades. Color blindness is an X-linked recessive hereditary condition, predominantly affecting males and typically transmitted by females.
Aim:
The aim is to determine the prevalence of color blindness among children.
Settings and Design:
This is a prospective study conducted among school children under 16 years of age in all government schools in a city in Central Gujarat.
Materials and Methods:
The government schools in the city were listed and surveyed, and males and females aged 16 or younger were selected for the study. As the participants were under 18 years of age, informed consent was obtained from the Municipal Education Committee. After selection, all participants underwent visual acuity assessment using the Snellen chart, and color vision was assessed using the Ishihara pseudoisochromatic color plate chart.
Statistical Analysis:
Descriptive statistics are used to present the profile of participants. The chi-square test is employed to compare the prevalence between malesand females.
Results:
This study included 6330 students aged 6–16 years from 23 government schools, and data were collected from December 2023 to November 2024. Of the 6330 students screened, 3228 were male and 3102 were female. Among these, 72 students were found to be colorblind, accounting for a prevalence rate of 1.13%. When comparing the genders, it was observed that among the 3228 males, 68 were identified as colorblind, giving a prevalence rate of 2.1%. In contrast, out of the 3102 females, only 4 were found to have color blindness, accounting for a much lower prevalence of 0.12%.
Conclusion:
The prevalence of colorblindness is higher in males (2.1%) than in females (0.12%). This markedly higher frequency in males supports the well-established X-linked recessive inheritance pattern of this condition.