Does colour vision deficiency affect the ability of ophthalmologists to detect pathology?

Researchers have examined how colour vision deficiency (CVD) affects the ability of ophthalmologists to differentiate pathology.

Writing in Journal of Clinical Medicine, an international team of researchers highlighted CVD is an “often-overlooked” issue within the medical community.

“We aim to evaluate how CVD affects diagnostic accuracy,” the researchers stated.

A group of 41 ophthalmologists without CVD were shown three fundus images: one normal, one with a choroidal nevus, and one with a choroidal melanoma.

The participants were also shown fundus images of the above conditions that had been altered to simulate three forms of CVD: protanopia, deuteranopia, and tritanopia.

The researchers found that there was lower diagnostic accuracy among ophthalmologists when they were shown fundus images that simulated protanopia and deuteranopia. Simulated tritanopia did not have an effect on diagnostic accuracy.

The study identified a tendency for ophthalmologists to mistake choroidal nevus for choroidal melanoma when under the simulated conditions of protanopia and deuteranopia.

“This misinterpretation could lead to unnecessary referrals, potentially overburdening healthcare resources and causing unnecessary patient stress,” the authors highlighted.

However, the researchers highlighted that almost all simulated images of choroidal melanoma were referred for specialised oncological treatment.

“Participants retained their ability to identify subretinal fluid and estimate tumour thickness in simulated and non-simulated images,” they shared.