A recent study compared vision-related quality of life in myopic subjects with different refractive treatments: continuous wear of silicone hydrogel contact lenses (CLs), orthokeratology and laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). Results show patients reported better vision-related quality of life when they were corrected with continuous wear lenses after one year. The patients who underwent LASIK provided the lowest evaluation, “most probably because of haloes and glare after surgery,” the study notes.

The researchers administered the National Eye Institute Refractive Error Quality of Life Instrument (NEI RQL-42) questionnaire to 96 subjects, 72 with myopia and an emmetropic cohort of 24. The myopic subjects included 24 subjects each of patients who were corrected with CLs, ortho-K lenses or LASIK.

After one year of treatment, the study found significant differences in the questionnaire’s subscales of glare, symptoms, dependence on correction and worry. Only the CL group noted an improved quality of life over the emmetropes. When comparing each myopic group with the emmetropic group, there was a mean difference of -5.5% for LASIK patients, -2.0% for orthokeratology subjects and +1.6% for the group with silicone hydrogel CLs.

In their conclusion, the researchers attribute the decreased scores in the questionnaire’s expectations and worry subscales for LASIK patients to the false expectations created about the treatment. “The poor valuation in expectations and worry aspects are probably explained by the limited preoperative information given to patients who had undergone LASIK surgery,” they wrote.