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Published on: October 24, 2019
Colour perception develops throughout childhood with increased risk of deficiencies in children born prematurely
Victoria Pueyo1,2,3, Mauricio Cedillo Ley4, Álvaro Fanlo-Zarazaga1,2
1Ophthalmology Department, Miguel Servet University Hospital, Zaragoza, Spain.
Insights
Children born prematurely show significantly poorer color vision compared to full-term peers. This increased risk for color vision deficiencies persists even when excluding preterm infants with other visual impairments.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Visual Neuroscience
Background:
- Color vision is crucial for development and daily functioning.
- Prematurity is a known risk factor for various neurodevelopmental and sensory impairments.
- Understanding the long-term visual consequences of prematurity is essential for early intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the impact of prematurity on chromatic discrimination in children aged 2 to 15 years.
- To establish normative data for color vision in full-term children.
- To compare color discrimination abilities between preterm and full-term children.
Main Methods:
- Recruited two cohorts: preterm and full-term children (n=1872).
- Conducted comprehensive ophthalmological exams.
- Assessed color discrimination along deutan, protan, and trytan axes using a DIVE device with eye-tracking.
Main Results:
- Preterm children exhibited significantly worse color discrimination across all three axes (p < 0.001).
- These deficits remained significant even after excluding preterm children with any visual disorders.
- Normative color discrimination curves were established for full-term children.
Conclusions:
- Children born preterm have a higher risk of developing color vision deficiencies.
- Prematurity negatively impacts chromatic discrimination throughout childhood.
- Early identification and management of visual impairments in preterm infants are critical.
Aim:
To quantify the impact of prematurity on chromatic discrimination throughout childhood, from 2 to 15 years of age.
Methods:
We recruited two cohorts of children, as part of the TrackAI Project, an international project with seven different study sites: a control group of full-term children with normal visual development and a group of children born prematurely. All children underwent a complete ophthalmological exam and an assessment of colour discrimination along the three colour axes: deutan, protan and trytan using a DIVE device with eye tracking technology.
Results:
We enrolled a total of 1872 children (928 females and 944 males) with a mean age of 6.64 years. Out of them, 374 were children born prematurely and 1498 were full-term controls. Using data from all the children born at term, reference normative curves were plotted for colour discrimination in every colour axis. Pre-term children presented worse colour discrimination than full-term in the three colour axes (p < 0.001). Even after removing from the comparison, all pre-term children with any visual disorder colour discrimination outcomes remained significantly worse than those from full-term children.
Conclusion:
While colour perception develops throughout the first years of life, children born pre-term face an increased risk for colour vision deficiencies.
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