The prevalence of colour vision deficiency, parent-reported, and child reported difficulties among 10- to 16-year-old school children in the Galle education zone, Sri Lanka

Introduction Colour vision deficiency (CVD) is an X-linked recessive disease. The prevalence of CVD varies from race to race. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of CVD among school children (ages 10-16) in Galle educational zone, Sri Lanka. Methods A total of 566 students (260 males, 306 females) were examined with Ishihara pseudo-isochromatic colour plates. The parental questionnaire was used to obtain a family history of CVD, the ability of the child to select coloured objects and past medical history. Results The overall prevalence of CVD was 1.4% (8 boys) with a prevalence of 3.1% for males. Six Sinhala, one Tamil and one Muslim boy had CVD. All affected children had negative histories of previous systemic and ocular disease or chronic use of medications. The visual acuity and the fundus were normal in all affected children. Seven (1.23%) had deuteranomaly, while one (0.17%) had protanomaly. 75% (06) of the parents were unaware of their child's defect, while 12.5% (01) reported a positive family history. Parental reporting of difficulties in selecting coloured objects in the child's day-to-day activities were not significant (p>0.05 Fisher's exact test). CVD children had reported difficulties in identifying colour objects in television/computer programmes and separation of cooked from uncooked food (p<0.05 Fisher's exact test). 50 % (04) of children were intimidated by their friends for their difficulties. Conclusions CVD is not uncommon in the Galle education zone, Sri Lanka. Affected children face difficulties.