Prevalence and population genetic data of colour vision deficiency among students from selected tertiary institutions in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background

Colour vision deficiency (CVD), also referred to as colour blindness, is the failure or decreased ability to distinguish between certain colours under normal lighting conditions. It is an X-linked genetic disorder with varying degrees of prevalence in different populations. There is presently no report on the prevalence of CVD among students of the selected tertiary institution. Hence, the present study was aimed at determining the occurrence and genetics of CVD among students from designated tertiary institutions in Lagos state. A cross-sectional survey was employed in recruiting 1191 study subjects from three tertiary institutions in Lagos, Nigeria.

Results

The overall occurrence of CVD among the study participants was 2.85%. There were 24 (4.29%) males and 10 (1.58%) females affected. Among the colour vision deficient individuals, 18 (1.51%) and 16 (1.34%) were deuteranomalous and protanomalous, respectively. Also, the prevalence of CVD varies across ethnic groups of the studied subjects with the highest occurrences (3.57%) observed in the Yoruba ethnic subpopulation and the least (1.45%) among the Hausas.

Conclusions

More males than females were found to be colour vision deficient, and there were more deutans than protans. Early screening for CVD should be encouraged among school children to guide the choice of future profession and help mitigate work hazards resulting from being colour deficient.