• C J Poole, D J Hill, J L Christie, and J Birch.
• Department of Occupational Health, Dudley Priority Health NHS Trust, Central Clinic.
• BMJ. 1997 Nov 15; 315 (7118): 1279-81.

ObjectiveTo determine whether histopathologists with deficient colour vision make more errors in slide interpretation than those with normal colour vision.DesignExamination of projected transparencies of histopathological slides under standardised conditions by subjects whose colour discriminating ability was accurately assessed.SettingDepartments of histopathology in 45 hospitals in the United Kingdom.Subjects270 male histopathologists and medical laboratory scientific officers.Main Outcome MeasuresNumber of slides correctly identified by subjects whose colour vision was measured on the Ishihara, City University, and Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue tests.ResultsMean (SD) scores (out of 10) for doctors with colour deficient vision were 9.4 (0.7) v 9.9 (0.4) for controls (P < 0.01) and 7.5 (1.6) v 9.4 (0.7) for scientific officers (P < 0.001). When subjects with colour deficient vision were categorised into severe, moderate, or mild, there was a significant trend towards those with severe deficiency making more mistakes (P < 0.001).ConclusionsHistopathologists and medical laboratory scientific officers should have their colour vision tested; if they are found to have a severe protan or deutan deficiency, they should be advised to adopt a safe system of working.

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