Citation

Cumberland P, Rahi JS, Peckham CS. Br. Med. J. BMJ 2004.

Affiliation

Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Child Health, London WC1N 1EH.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/bmj.38176.685208.F7

PMID

15465847

PMCID

PMC526118

Abstract

Increasing use of colour in education has raised concerns for children with CVD, but robust evidence is lacking. Our findings indicate that affected children do as well as their peers educationally, during school and subsequently. Although the use of colour has increased since the early schooling of the subjects of this study, only a minority with severely impaired colour vision would be potentially disadvantaged and any limitation would depend on the specific environment as well as the individual's abilities.

That unintentional injuries were no more common among those with CVD supports current standards for driving in the United Kingdom (in which CVD is not a preclusion) and also indicates that normal colour vision is not a prerequisite for safe working in many occupations or environments. Most people with colour vision defects develop effective adaptive strategies and behaviours, and use other clues, such as a colourâ??s saturation, to deal with any potential limitations in their professional and personal lives. At a population level, congenital CVD confer no functional disadvantage in relation to educational attainment and unintentional injury. This challenges the rationale for and the value of population screening for these disorders.