Color vision screening: a comparison of the AO H-R-R and Farnsworth F-2 tests.

Vision screening tests should include a simple, reliable, and valid test of color vision defects. In this investigation the single plate Farnsworth F-2 test and the AO H-R-R pseudoisochromatic plates were compared as primary screening tests for red-green color defective vision. The tests were administered to 2827 children, kindergarten through high school grades. Both tests failed a higher percentage of children than expected in the lower grades (kindergarten through 3). In grades 4 through high school, however, 4.16% failed the F-2 test and 4.02% failed the AO H-R-R, compared to a predicted 4.2% of the general population with inherited red-green deficiencies. The failure rates of the F-2 test for 1171 high school boys and girls were 7.3 and 0.89%, respectively, very close to the expected incidence of red-green defects in males and females. Although the F-2 test passed a few pupils who failed the AO H-R-R test, their defects were categorized as mild or borderline on the AO H-R-R test and therefore not likely to be of practical significance. Less than 0.5% of the children in grades 4 through high school failed the F-2 test after passing the AO H-R-R. Some children with normal color vision, particularly very young children, may fail the F-2 test because of difficulty picking out the less obvious blue square. Nevertheless, for screening purposes the F-2 test is comparable to the AO H-R-R test and except for kindergarten and grade 1 pupils is an excellent single plate color vision screening test.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)