Does Color Vision Deficiency in the Endoscopist Influence the Accuracy of Endoscopic Diagnosis? An Anonymous Study with Dutch Gastrointestinal Endoscopists

Abstract

Colors play a major role in the endoscopic diagnosis of many gastrointestinal conditions. Gastrointestinal endoscopists in the Netherlands are predominantly male (> 90 %), and from population data it is to be expected that approximately 8 % will have a color vision deficiency. The present study was designed to assess the prevalence of color vision deficiencies amongst Dutch gastrointestinal endoscopists and to determine whether color vision deficiency affects an endoscopist's diagnostic skill. One hundred and thirty-nine gastroenterologists and physicians of internal medicine took an F₂ color vision test and assessed nine videofragments of endoscopies. Color vision deficiencies were detected in 8 % of Dutch gastrointestinal endoscopists. In one out of the nine video excerpts of endoscopies, a statistically significant difference was detected between test subjects with and without a color vision deficiency. However, this video excerpt showed a green pen, which could not be mistaken for a polyp at polypectomy. The study therefore does not show any effect of color vision deficiencies on endoscopic skills, nor does it show any deviant prevalence of color vision deficiencies amongst Dutch gastrointestinal endoscopists.