WASHINGTON DC, April 25, 2008 -- More than 99% of
patients report their quality of life after laser vision
correction surgery is as they had expected or better, even
though 2% report complications that are frequently or always
problematic, according to a national patient survey conducted by
the nonprofit Council or Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance
(USAEyes). Preliminary results of the
USAEyes Competence Opinion Relative to Expectation (CORE)
patient survey are being presented to the US Food and Drug
Administration during a special hearing today.
"The USAEyes CORE survey is designed to determine if patients
are getting what they expect from Lasik and similar eye
surgery," says Glenn Hagele, Executive Director of the nonprofit
patient advocacy that conducted the study. "Relevant questions
ask if the patient's results were 'as expected', or degrees of
'better than expected' or 'worse than expected'." The survey is
used to screen Lasik doctors for certification by USAEyes.
The survey was mailed to 1,800 vision correction surgery
patients of six doctors throughout the US, with a 31% response
rate.
"It is not surprising that the vast majority of Lasik patients
are satisfied with their results, but what was unexpected was
that many would have the surgery again despite reporting
complications," reports Hagele.
Of those who reported complications that were "seldom
problematic", 91% would have the surgery again. A surprising 22%
of patients who reported complications that were "frequently" or
"always" problematic would have the surgery again, according to
patients who responded to the survey. "Clearly some patients
find the convenience of a reduced need for glasses and contacts
worth occasional problems," says Hagele.
Additional results of the USAEyes CORE patient survey:
- 99% report quality of life as expected, better, or much
better after vision correction surgery
- 98% state day vision as expected, better, or much better
- 98% report no complications or complications that are seldom
problematic
- 98% would recommend surgery to family and friends.
- 97% would have surgery again, knowing what they know now
- 96% wear corrective lenses as often as expected, less than
expected, or much less than expected
- 96% report postop vision without lenses as expected, better,
or much better than expected when compared to preop vision
with lenses
- 96% report overall quality of vision as expected, better, or
much better than expected
- 91% report no complications at any time
- 91% state night vision as expected, better, or much better
than expected
- 7% report complications seldom problematic, however 91% of
these same patients would have surgery again
- 2% report complications frequently or always problematic,
however 22% of these same patients would have surgery again