Association between Color Vision Deficiency and Police Officer Tasks in South Korea: A Prospective Pilot Study

We aimed to investigate the association between the results of color vision tests and simulation tests for police tasks among participants with color vision deficiencies (CVDs) and those with normal vision, and to assess the agreement between the results of various color vision tests.

Participants with CVDs and healthy controls were recruited. Participants in the CVD group were classified into three subgroups (mild weakness, severe weakness, and color blindness). All participants performed simulation tests (bloodstain identification, traffic light test, and analysis of dashboard camera recordings) and clinical color vision tests. We statistically analyzed the association between color vision tests and simulation tests and quantitatively assessed the agreement between various color vision tests.

We evaluated 25 participants with normal vision (92.0% male) and 21 with CVDs (95.2% male). Even in the mild CVD group, the scores for the traffic light test and dashboard camera recordings were lower than those of the control group (9.40±0.57 vs. 9.06±0.84, and 1.80±0.40 vs. 1.44±0.77, all p<0.05). However, no difference in the bloodstain identification test scores was observed between the control and CVD groups (p=0.190). Additionally, the association with anomaloscope results was strongest in the following order: Ishihara, Hardy-Rand-Rittler, Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue, and Farnsworth D-15 tests.

This study demonstrated a correlation between the results of clinical color vision tests and police-related simulation tests. Particularly, the score for recognizing traffic signs or analyzing dashboard camera recordings was lower even in those with mild CVD than in those with normal vision.