Prevalence of color vision deficiency among first-year health science students at a medical university in Vietnam

Color vision deficiency (CVD) affects clinical performance in color-dependent tasks. While studies have reported a high prevalence of CVD among health science students in several Asian countries, no data are available from Vietnam. To evaluate the prevalence and identify factors correlated with CVD among first-year health science students in Vietnam. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among all first-year students in the 2024-2025 academic year. CVD was first screened using the online Ishihara test questionnaire. Students who made five or more errors on this questionnaire were subsequently referred for confirmatory ophthalmic examination. 1,491 students were included. Overall, 1.9% (28/1,491) were clinically confirmed to have CVD. Male students had a 16-fold higher odds of color vision deficiency than female students (OR = 16.60; 95% CI: 5.32-82.8). Students with less than 7 h of daily sleep were correlated with twice the risk level compared to those with a longer sleep duration (OR = 2.33; 95% CI: 1.10-5.00). Our findings underscore the importance of early screening of CVD, particularly among medical and pharmacy students. Identifying correlated factors, including sex and sleep duration, underscores the necessity of prioritizing screening for first-year students, thereby facilitating informed academic planning and future career guidance.