The description of physical signs of illness in photographs by physicians with abnormal colour vision

BACKGROUND: Physicians with congenital colour vision deficiency (CCVD) have reported difficulties recognising certain physical signs of illness, for example, jaundice, red rashes and pallor, and interpreting coloured charts, diagrams and slide projections. However, there has been little study of the effects of CCVD on the performance of medical practitioners. AIM: The aim of this study was to look for evidence of the effect of CCVD on the ability of physicians to recognise and describe physical signs of illness that have colour as either the main or an important feature. METHOD: Twenty-three general practitioners with CCVD were shown 11 colour photographs depicting colour signs of illness and were asked to describe the signs they saw and rate their confidence in making their descriptions. Their responses were compared to those of 23 age-matched general practitioners with normal colour vision. RESULT: General practitioners with CCVD compared to those with normal colour vision had less ability and confidence in detecting physical signs in the photographs and naming the colours. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study support other evidence that physicians with CCVD have difficulties detecting some colour signs of illness and naming the colours. Because of the use of photographs the extent of the problem in clinical practice is unknown but medical practitioners with CCVD should be aware of the possibility of failing to detect or correctly assess physical signs that are characterised by colour.