Patient-reported vision-related quality of life after laser in situ keratomileusis, surface ablation, and phakic intraocular lens: The 5.5-year follow-up study

To evaluate the long-term efficacy of refractive surgery of all cases in a single center via the use of a patient-reported outcome (PRO) refractive status questionnaire using descriptive statistics. This study was prospective, single-center, cohort study that involved 1422 patients who underwent refractive surgery (laser in situ keratomileusis, surface ablation, and phakic intraocular lens) at Baptist Eye Institute, Kyoto, Japan. The patients were asked to answer the Refractive Status and Vision Profile (RSVP) questionnaire before the surgery after 6 months (n=1133 patients) and after 5.5 years (n=232 patients). During the same period, examination by slit-lamp biomicroscopy and visual acuity tests were performed. Moreover, the patients were asked to rate their satisfaction with the surgery 6 months and 5.5 years after it. We examined overall RSVP scale (S), 8 RSVP subscales, rate of satisfaction with surgical outcome, slit-lamp biomicroscopy findings, and refractive error. The mean preoperative S was 36, yet that score significantly improved to 19 at 6 postoperative months postoperatively (P<.01), and basically remained the same (i.e., 20) throughout the 5.5-year postoperative period. During the 5-year follow-up period, mean refractive error became slightly myopic (0.3 D). No change in the rate of satisfaction was observed at both 6 months and 5.5 years postoperative period. The findings of this study help to clarify long-term PRO quality of vision (QOV) postrefractive surgery in a single center, and show that minor change in refractive error during 5 years postoperative period had no influence on the mean RSVP scores among outpatients. Nearly all patients reported short-term improvement of QOV, which continued throughout the long-term follow-up period.