Color Vision in Schoolchildren with Low Birth Weight and Those Born Full-Term with Appropriate Weight for Gestational Age.

PURPOSE: To evaluate color discrimination in schoolchildren with low birth weight (LBW) and those born full-term and at a weight appropriate for gestational age (AGA).

METHODS

LBW children aged 5-11 years and school-, grade-, sex-, and age-matched full-term (birth weight ≥ 2500 g) AGA controls from 14 randomly selected schools from a low-income region were tested. Examinations included visual acuity, ocular motility, and color vision testing using the Farnsworth D-15 test. Color score and interocular color score difference (ICD) were compared between the groups. Multiple logistic regression was used to analyze associations between color vision deficit and group, adjusting for age, sex, visual acuity, strabismus, and amblyopia.

RESULTS

A total of 291 LBW children (age = 8.5 ± 1.3 yrs; 55.7% females) and 265 AGA children (age = 8.5 ± 1.4 yrs; 56.2% females) were examined. Dyschromatopsia was detected in 10.3% of LBW and 7.9% of AGA children, primarily involving tritan and non-specific defects. Color scores were comparable between the groups, and color deficit was significantly associated with younger age and worse visual acuity. The ICD was statistically larger (p = 0.004) in the LBW group, in which the frequencies of strabismus and amblyopia were also higher.

CONCLUSIONS

Most LBW children demonstrated normal color discrimination, but their interocular color score difference was larger than that of AGA children.