Evaluation of contrast sensitivity in patients with congenital red-green color vision deficiency

Purpose To evaluate mesopic and photopic contrast sensitivity in patients with congenital red-green color vision deficiency regarding with and without glare conditions and to compare these findings with age- and gender-matched healthy controls with normal color vision. Methods Patients with congenital red-green color vision deficiency and age- and gender-matched healthy controls were included in this cross-sectional comparative study. Contrast sensitivity measurements were taken from all subjects in 4 different conditions; binocular mesopic-without glare, mesopic-with glare, photopic-without glare, photopic-with glare, and the results were compared. Results Twenty one patients with color vision deficiency (13 deuteranopic, 8 protanopic) and 22 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were included in the study. The mean age was 35.2 +/- 13.5 years in the protan group, 30.6 +/- 7.7 years in the deutan group, 32.0 +/- 8.8 years in the control group, and there was no significant difference in age between the groups (P > 0.05). The mean mesopic and photopic contrast sensitivity values of the groups at all spatial frequencies (1.5, 3, 6, 12, 18 cpd) were not statistically significant when evaluated by the multifactor repeated measures test of ANOVA to evaluate the effect of light conditions (with and without glare) (P > .05). Conclusion Mesopic and photopic contrast sensitivity values of patients with congenital red-green color vision deficiency were similar to healthy controls regarding with and without glare conditions.