Colour vision deficiencies in Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Objective: visual disorders are among the earliest symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. It is, however, still controversial as to whether Alzheimer's disease impairs colour vision. In this study, colour vision of Alzheimer's disease patients was tested using the Ishihara test and the PV-16 choice test. The latter test, primarily designed for children, was chosen in order to avoid problems due to cognitive decline. Methods: 26 patients with mild to severe Alzheimer's disease (M:F = 5:21; mean age: 80 ± 9 years, range: 53-95 years) and 25 controls (M:F = 5:20; mean age 80 ± 10 years, range: 56-100 years) were rated after undergoing complete neuro-ophthalmologic examination. Results: the Alzheimer's disease patients made significantly more unspecific errors in the Ishihara test (P=0.02) and in the PV-16 choice test (P=0.0008) than the controls. No relation between test performance and severity of Alzheimer's disease was found. Conclusions: Alzheimer's disease patients have an unspecific colour vision deficiency independent of the severity of the disease.