1. Muhammad Shoaib Akhtar, Asif Hanif and Muhammad Aslamkhan
Preliminary Report of Colour-blindness in Punjab, Pakistan
Muhammad Shoaib Akhtar, Asif Hanif and Muhammad Aslamkhan
Methodology:
Cross Sectional Study
Cluster Sampling
Sample Size: 579
Male: 359
Female: 220
Settings: Five Schools of District Chiniot (Three Boys and Two Girls) located in three tehsils i.e., Chiniot, Lalian and Bhowana and Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Health Sciences Lahore
Pseudoisochromatic Ishihara Test (38 Plate Edition) was used to identify colour-blind individuals.
Data was collected in a pre-designed questionnaire.
Data was analysed using SPSS 20.0 version.
Introduction:
Punjab is the largest province of Pakistan according to population proportion.
The prevalence of consanguinity in the Punjab is 80 percent. (1)
Chiniot is a city of the central Punjab, with a history ranging from 326 BC, the arrival of Alexander, the Great.
It has a well diverse population consisting of 17 principal tribes.
Literature Review:
Study
Study Population
Male (Prevalence)
Female (Prevalence)
Siddiqui et al. (2)
Karachi
2.75%
---
Mughal et al. (3)
Faisalabad
2.4%
4.48%
Results:
Prevalence of colour-blindness among whole study population is 3.28%.
Prevalence of colour-blindness among males were 5.29%.
Prevalence of colour-blindness among females were 0.00%.
Of individuals diagnosed as colour-blinds, 1 was mild protan, 5 were strong protan, 1 was mild deutan and 6 were strong deutan.
Amazingly, we found and diagnosed six cases of colour-blindness whom type could not be identified.
Tehsil wise prevalence of colour-blindness in Tehsil Chiniot, Tehsil Lalian and Tehsil Bhowana found is 2.29%, 2.92% and 6.19% respectively.
An association between colour-blindeness and consanguinity is found. (p-value is 0.045)
Consanguinity among study parents of study population was 84.45%. Consanguinity among male and female population was 85.23% and 83.18% respectively.
Objectives:
To find out the prevalence of colour-blind male and females in various ethnic/caste groups of district Chiniot
To ascertain the impact of consanguinity on colour-blindness
References:
Aslamkhan M, editor Cultural Consanguinity. 3rd International Conference Medical and Community Genetics, Chandigarh, India; 2008.
Siddiqui QA, Shaikh SA, Qureshi TZ, Subhan MM. A comparison of red-green color vision deficiency between medical and non-medical students in Pakistan. Saudi medical journal. 2010;31(8):895-9.
Mughal IA, Ali L, Aziz N, Mehmood K, Afzal N. COLOUR VISION DEFICIENCY (CVD) IN MEDICAL STUDENTS. Pak J Physiol. 2013;9(1).
Conclusion:
Prevalence of colour-blindness among males is high because colour-blindness is an X-linked disease.
In our sample of 220 females tested so far we have not been able to find colour-blind females.
Colour-blindness is associated with consanguinity as it is a known risk factor for recessive genetic diseases. The overall percentage of colour-blind females is only 0.5%. In our sample of 220, tested so far we have not been able to find any colour-blind female.