Pattern of Inheritance and Career Choices of Secondary School Students Screened for Color Vision Disorders

Abstract

Color vision disorders (CVD) also known as color blindness or color vision defects are one of the commonest genetic and inherited disorders observed in the human population [1,2,3,4]. Color vision results from stimulation of the cones in the retina in different combinations. [5] Color vision disorders can either be congenital or acquired. [6] With the inheritance patterns, being sex or X linked recessive and is said to be commoner in males than females.In a study by Al Aqtum et al. on-University students in Jordan, the allelic frequencies of the color vision gene was found to 0.087 in males and 0.003 in females. [7] The congenital type is mainly of the red green pattern, symmetrical and bilateral and ranges in severity from mild to severe with a prevalence of 8% in males and 0.5% in females. On the other hand, the acquired type usually has no inheritance pattern, most commonly of the yellow blue variety, unilateral and asymmetrical in the two eyes. [8][9] Color vision is important in many activities of daily living. There are four major tasks under which the importance of color falls and they include:[10].