Frequency of color blindness in pre-employment screening in a tertiary health care center in Pakistan

Shaukat Ali Chhipa, Aga Khan University
arzeen K. Hashmi, Aga Khan University
Shehreen Ali, Aga Khan University
Mustafa Kamal, Aga Khan University
Khabir Ahmed, Aga Khan University

Abstract

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To describe the frequency of color vision deficiency among Pakistani adults presenting for pre-employment health screening in a tertiary care hospital.

METHODS:

The cross-sectional study was carried out at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and the data was collected for color vision deficiency, age, gender, and job applied for from pre-employment examination during 2013-2014. IBM SPSS 20 was used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS:

Three thousand four hundred and thirty seven persons underwent pre-employment screening during 2013 and 2014; 1837 (53.44%) were males and 1600 (46.65%) females. The mean age was 29.01 (±6.53) years. A total of 0.9% (32/3437) persons had color vision deficiency with male being 1.4% and female 0.4%.

CONCLUSION:

Color vision deficiency was observed in 0.9% of candidates screened for pre-employment health check up in a tertiary care hospital. The color vision deficiency was predominantly present in male individuals.