The correlation between cotinine levels in active smokers with color blindness

Introduction: Color blindness can be congenital or acquired due to certain diseases. One of the causes of acquired color blindness is due to toxic optical neuropathy. Tobacco consumption, assumed to be one of the risk factors, has been proposed to be associated with toxic optical neuropathy. Active smokers are subjects who are susceptible to the toxic effects of tobacco. This study aimed to analyze the correlation between blood cotinine levels in active smokers with color blindness. Methods: This study was an observational analysis of 33 smokers and 35 non-smokers samples. Cotinine levels were examined from blood samples, which were then examined by Calbiotech reagent. Farnsworth Munsell 15 Hue was used to examine color vision. Statistical analysis was done using Shapiro-Wilk for normality distribution data, Mann Whitney and Independent T-test comparing data between two groups, and Spearman correlation test. Result: There was a significant difference between the mean color blind error score in the smoker group (4.83 ± 6.27) and the non-smoker group (0.24 ± 0.65). Similarly, a significant difference was found between the blood cotinine level of the smoker group (64.59 µg/ml) and the non-smoker group (0.44 µg/ml). There was a significant correlation between the color blind error score and blood cotinine levels in the total sample. Conclusion: There was a correlation in the total sample between blood cotinine levels and a color-blind error score. The higher the blood cotinine level, the higher the color blind error score.