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Iris color and visual functions

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Abstract

Background

The aim of this study was to evaluate if iris color is associated with differences in visual functions such as intraocular straylight (IOSL), contrast sensitivity (CS), or best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA).

Methods

In this retrospective cohort study, which is a subgroup analysis of a large prospective trial about visual impairments in European car drivers, we included 853 persons between 20 and 80 years of age and without a history of ocular surgery or any eye disease including cataract. Subjects participated in an ophthalmological examination, grading of lens opacity, and the measurement of visual functions such as IOSL, CS, and BCVA. Dependent on iris color, participants were divided into four groups: light-blue, blue-grey, green-hazel, and brown.

Results

Independent of age, IOSL was significantly (all p values < 0.0001, Fisher’s LSD test) higher in participants with light-blue colored iris (1.14 log(IOSL) [95 % CI: 1.11–1.17]) compared to participants with blue-grey (1.07 log(IOSL) [95 % CI: 1.05–1.09]), green-hazel (1.06 log(IOSL) [95 % CI: 1.04–1.08]) or brown (1.06 log(IOSL) [95 % CI: 1.04–1.08]) iris color. CS was also lower in participants with light-blue pigmented irises (1.60 log(CS) [95 % CI: 1.58–1.62]) than in the other groups, but statistically significant (p = 0.013, Fisher’s LSD test) only compared to brown iris color. For BCVA we could not found any difference between the four groups.

Conclusions

We could show in this study that iris color has a significant impact on IOSL and to a lower degree on CS, but not on BCVA. Persons with light-blue iris color who showed significantly higher IOSL values therefore may experience disability glare in daily situations such as driving at night more often than others.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Wolfgang Hitzl for his support in statistical analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg, Muellner Hauptstrasse 48, 5020, Salzburg, Austria

    Christian Nischler, Christine Wintersteller, Patrick Marvan, Martin Emesz & Günther Grabner

  2. Institut Universitari Barraquer, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Ralph Michael

  3. Department of Ophthalmology, Vrije Universiteit Medical Centre, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Laurentius J. van Rijn

  4. Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience of the Royal Academy, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Joris E. Coppens & Thomas J. T. P. van den Berg

Authors
  1. Christian Nischler
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  2. Ralph Michael
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  3. Christine Wintersteller
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  4. Patrick Marvan
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  5. Laurentius J. van Rijn
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  6. Joris E. Coppens
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  7. Thomas J. T. P. van den Berg
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  9. Günther Grabner
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christian Nischler.

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Statements

The authors have full control of all primary data and they agree to allow Graefes Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology to review their data upon request.

The content of this manuscript has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere.

The clinical trial is registered at: www.ANZCTR.org.au with the clinical trial number: ACTRN12612000195853.

The study was approved by the local ethics committees of all participating clinics and conforms to the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki in 1995 (revised in Tokyo 2004). Every participant gave written informed consent and anonymity was preserved.

Financial support

This study was supported by the grant SUB-B27020B-E3-GLARE-2002-S07.18091 from the European Commission. The Salzburg part was supported by the Ernst Fuchs Foundation.

Proprietary interests

The Royal Academy has a proprietary interest in the straylight meter. None of the authors has any proprietary or financial interest in any of the tests that were used or in any of the results that were obtained in this study.

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Nischler, C., Michael, R., Wintersteller, C. et al. Iris color and visual functions. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 251, 195–202 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-012-2006-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-012-2006-8

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