title: Long-term follow-up after laser vision correction in physicians: quality of life and patient satisfaction.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the satisfaction and quality of life after laser vision correction (LVC) exclusively in a physician population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 12-question survey targeted toward physicians and the unique qualities of their experience with refractive surgery was sent to physicians who had refractive surgery at the Cole Eye Institute between 2000 and 2012. In conjunction, the visual outcomes and clinical information of physicians who received the survey were reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred twenty-six physicians (439 eyes) met the inclusion criteria for our study. One hundred thirty-two physicians (58%) responded to the survey and reported an overall satisfaction rate of 95.3%. Respondents included surgeons (28.0%), physicians who perform procedures but not surgery (43.2%), and physicians who do not perform procedures or surgery (28.8%). Of the physicians, 84.8% reported an improvement in the quality of vision compared with the corrected preoperative vision, 39.0% reported that their ability to perform procedures accurately had improved and 1.6% said they believed their ability to perform procedures was less. Ninety-six percent reported they would have the procedure again. Visual outcomes showed high levels of surgical predictability, efficacy, and safety.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite high visual demands, physicians having LVC had a high percentage of good visual outcomes, satisfaction, and quality-of-life improvements.
authors.affiliation: From Cole Eye Institute (Pasquali, Smadja, Savetsky, Mello, Alkhawaldeh, Krueger), Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, and the Southern California Eye Physicians and Associates (Pasquali), Lakewood, and the Foothill Eye Medical Group (Savetsky), Glendora, California, USA; the Department of Ophthalmology (Smadja), Anterior Segment and Refractive Surgery Unit, Bordeaux Hospital University, Bordeaux, France; Federal University of Paraná (Mello), Curitiba-PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Theodore A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Pasquali
authors.affiliation: From Cole Eye Institute (Pasquali, Smadja, Savetsky, Mello, Alkhawaldeh, Krueger), Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, and the Southern California Eye Physicians and Associates (Pasquali), Lakewood, and the Foothill Eye Medical Group (Savetsky), Glendora, California, USA; the Department of Ophthalmology (Smadja), Anterior Segment and Refractive Surgery Unit, Bordeaux Hospital University, Bordeaux, France; Federal University of Paraná (Mello), Curitiba-PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Smadja
authors.affiliation: From Cole Eye Institute (Pasquali, Smadja, Savetsky, Mello, Alkhawaldeh, Krueger), Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, and the Southern California Eye Physicians and Associates (Pasquali), Lakewood, and the Foothill Eye Medical Group (Savetsky), Glendora, California, USA; the Department of Ophthalmology (Smadja), Anterior Segment and Refractive Surgery Unit, Bordeaux Hospital University, Bordeaux, France; Federal University of Paraná (Mello), Curitiba-PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Savetsky
authors.affiliation: From Cole Eye Institute (Pasquali, Smadja, Savetsky, Mello, Alkhawaldeh, Krueger), Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, and the Southern California Eye Physicians and Associates (Pasquali), Lakewood, and the Foothill Eye Medical Group (Savetsky), Glendora, California, USA; the Department of Ophthalmology (Smadja), Anterior Segment and Refractive Surgery Unit, Bordeaux Hospital University, Bordeaux, France; Federal University of Paraná (Mello), Curitiba-PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Glauco H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Reggiani Mello
authors.affiliation: From Cole Eye Institute (Pasquali, Smadja, Savetsky, Mello, Alkhawaldeh, Krueger), Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, and the Southern California Eye Physicians and Associates (Pasquali), Lakewood, and the Foothill Eye Medical Group (Savetsky), Glendora, California, USA; the Department of Ophthalmology (Smadja), Anterior Segment and Refractive Surgery Unit, Bordeaux Hospital University, Bordeaux, France; Federal University of Paraná (Mello), Curitiba-PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fadiah
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alkhawaldeh
authors.affiliation: From Cole Eye Institute (Pasquali, Smadja, Savetsky, Mello, Alkhawaldeh, Krueger), Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, and the Southern California Eye Physicians and Associates (Pasquali), Lakewood, and the Foothill Eye Medical Group (Savetsky), Glendora, California, USA; the Department of Ophthalmology (Smadja), Anterior Segment and Refractive Surgery Unit, Bordeaux Hospital University, Bordeaux, France; Federal University of Paraná (Mello), Curitiba-PR, Brazil. Electronic address: krueger@ccf.org.
authors.forename: Ronald R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Krueger
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006281:Health Occupations; D006801:Humans; D020731:Keratomileusis, Laser In Situ; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018903:Photorefractive Keratectomy; D010820:Physicians; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012029:Refraction, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000523:psychology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology