Citation

Tagarelli A, Piro A, Tagarelli G, Lantieri PB, Risso D, Olivieri RL. Acta Ophthalmol. Scand. 2004; 82(4): 436-442.

Affiliation

Institute of Neurological Science, Mangone, Cosenza, Italy. a.tagarelli@isn.cnr.it

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1395-3907.2004.00283.x

PMID

15291938

Abstract

PURPOSE: The aim of the present work was to ascertain, through the administration of a psychosocial questionnaire, the difficulties that subjects with defective color vision experience in carrying out everyday tasks and work, including driving a car with a driver's licence held for no more than 3 years. METHODS: Subjects with defective color vision (n = 151) and subjects with normal vision (n = 302) completed a psychosocial questionnaire regarding the difficulties associated with congenital color vision deficiency in daily life, work and driving a car. Subjects were diagnosed as colour-blind using the Ishihara test. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences between the two samples were found for daily life activities. Subjects with defective colour vision preferred daytime driving. At night, subjects with defective color vision had difficulty identifying reflectors on the road and the rear signal lights of cars ahead of them. CONCLUSION: Color-blind Calabrian subjects admitted to experiencing color-related difficulties with a wide range of occupational tasks and leisure pursuits. In particular, color-blind Calabrian subjects preferred daytime driving, and fewer drove regularly, compared to orthochromatics, who were indifferent to night or daytime driving.