Validation of a New Digital and Automated Color Perception Test

Abstract

Although color vision deficiencies are very prevalent, there are no ideal methods for assessing color vision in all environments. We compared a new digital and automated method that quantifies color perception for the three protan, deutan, and tritan axes with two of the most commonly used color tests in daily practice: the Ishihara 38 plates test and the Farnsworth–Munsell 100-Hue test. One hundred patients underwent a triple examination composed of the new DIVE Color Test, the Ishihara test, and the Farnsworth–Munsell 100-Hue test. The DIVE Color Test was performed twice in forty participants to assess its repeatability. In the trichromatic group, the mean age stood at 20.57 ± 9.22 years compared with 25.99 ± 15.86 years in the dyschromatic group. The DIVE and Ishihara tests exhibited excellent agreement in identifying participants with color deficiency (Cohen’s kappa = 1.00), while it was 0.81 when comparing DIVE and Farnsworth. The correlation between the global perception values of Farnsworth (TES) and DIVE (GCS) was 0.80. The repeatability of the DIVE Color Test was high according to Bland–Altman analysis with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.83. According to Ishihara, the DIVE Color Test proved to be an effective and reproducible tool for red–green color vision deficiency detection, capable of determining the severity of the defect in each of the three axes faster and more accurately than both Ishihara and Farnsworth.