Evaluation of Colour Blindness in Adults Living in Sagamu

ABSTRACT

Colour vision deficiency and colour blindness are synonymous terms describing poor colour discrimination by the visual senses. Congenital colour vision defects are common, X-linked inherited, non-progressive and untreatable disorders. Elsewhere, screening for these disorders are an established practice so that those affected can be advised about occupational
preclusions. However, population-based study on the broader impact of colour vision defects
is limited. Many people are affected by colour blindness but most of them remain undetected
as they simply adapt to the environment to certain extent and some remain unaware of the
disease.The purpose of this research is to evaluate the prevalence of colour blindness in adults living in Sagamu.
A descriptive cross sectional survey was conducted using Plates 23 and 16 of the Ishihara charts. The study was undertaken in Sagamu, a city in Ogun State, Nigeria. A convenient sample of 100 male and female subjects (50 males, 50 females) ranging from 18-32 years of age was used and the selection was based on random sampling.
The study reveals that the prevalence of congenital colour vision deficiency in Nigerians living in Sagamu is 7% (7 of 100 subjects) and that of total colour blindness is 0%. The gender distribution of colour blindness in the sample was 10% for males and 4% for females indicates a significantly greater frequency of defect among males than females (p