Report on psychosocial findings and satisfaction among patients 1 year after excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy.
BACKGROUND
The first 26 patients who underwent photorefractive keratectomy with an excimer laser in our clinic with a 1-year follow up voluntarily answered a questionnaire.


METHODS
It was intended to get information about their social status, motivation, expectations, and satisfaction with myopic excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy.


RESULTS
All patients wore corrective lenses before surgery; 74% wore no optical correction after the photorefractive keratectomy. "To improve general vision" was the highest ranked motivation while "looking better" was only of minor importance. Seventy-two percent reported that their subjective vision became better; 28% felt that it didn't change, but none reported deterioration of subjective vision. Seventy-five percent of the patients reported improvement of their lifestyle after surgery, whereas 21% reported no change and one patient stated that his lifestyle got worse. On a scale ranging from 1 to 5, early postoperative course was painful with a mean score of 2.25; the treatment itself was considered as professional (1.42 +/- 0.8) and well done (1.54 +/- 0.8). Eighty-four percent of the patients reported that they were satisfied with the overall results.


CONCLUSIONS
All patients would decide again to have photorefractive keratectomy for myopic correction.
Kahle
G
G
Universitätsaugenklinik im Klinikum Charlottenburg, Germany.
Seiler
T
T
Wollensak
J
J
D000328:Adult; D003315:Cornea / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009216:Myopia / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000209:etiology