Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Orthoptics / The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of LASIK as a refractive surgical procedure, using a repeated measures design to assess satisfaction of patients who had LASIK and to correlate clinical outcomes with detailed measures of patient satisfaction to document long-term viability, monitor changes over time and patients’ functional abilities post-operatively. Method In the study 216 post-LASIK subjects were randomly selected from among patients who underwent simultaneous bilateral LASIK using the Chiron Technolas 217C plano-scan excimer laser with the Chiron ACS (Automated Corneal Shaper) and the Hansatome microkeratome. The subjects were recruited from within one centre, and the procedures were performed by any one of three surgeons. The study also included 100 non-LASIK subjects as a control group, to compare and differentiate ocular symptoms and visual difficulties between LASIK and non-LASIK patients. Clinical data documented included visual acuity, subjective refraction, record of glasses and/or contact lenses prescription, corneal topography with EyeSys and Orbscan, slit lamp examination, surgical details, and any pre-existing eye disease/conditions and previous surgery or injury that might prevent the subjects from achieving their desired visual outcome post-operatively. Subjective patient satisfaction evaluation of the treatment group was assessed by subjects completing a survey questionnaire at 3 months, 6 months, 12 months and 24 months post-operatively. The control group subjects completed a comparable questionnaire and were assessed at baseline and 3 months later. Because the control group subjects did not have any surgical alterations, it was unnecessary for them to have more than one follow-up. Results LASIK achieved relatively high patient satisfaction, with only a small number of dissatisfied patients. It was effective in correcting myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. However, there was some persistent under-correction in myopic spherical and minus cylindrical refractive errors. Hyperopic spherical correction was less effective, as there were more under- as well as over-correction, and the plus cylindrical correction tended to be under-corrected. The LASIK subjects’ post-operative distance uncorrected visual acuity was not as good as their pre-operative best corrected visual acuity, but it did not significantly correlate with patient satisfaction. The findings were consistent with other studies and confirmed the concept that patient satisfaction is not unidimensional and is not related to outcome solely in terms of visual acuity and residual refractive errors. Other contributing factors included problems with glare, rating of unaided distance and near vision, ability to drive at night, change in ability to perform social/recreational, home and work activities, change in overall quality of life, amount of information given prior to surgery, rating of surgery success, and surgery outcome relative to pre-operative expectations. These variables demonstrated distinctive differences between subjects who were satisfied and dissatisfied. Conclusions The findings of this study are consistent with those of earlier studies. However, the repeated measures design and the comparisons between LASIK subjects and the control group revealed some new insights that were previously undocumented. LASIK achieved high patient satisfaction, and factors associated with satisfaction were predictable, but sources of dissatisfaction were more idiosyncratic and contributing factors were identified.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/216116 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Tat, Lien Thieu |
| Publisher | University of Sydney. Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Applied Vision Sciences |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | en_AU |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | The author retains copyright of this thesis., http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/copyright.html |
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