Assessment of Patient Satisfaction and Quality of Life after Laser-assisted in situ Keratomileusis Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) surgery corrects refractive errors such as myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism, leading to improvement in visual clarity. Beyond the restoration of visual acuity, LASIK surgery aims to improve patient’s QoL by enhancing their overall satisfaction with vision correction. This meta-analysis aims to assess patient satisfaction and QoL after LASIK. Methods: The literature search was conducted to include LASIK surgery. Using Review Manager version 5.4 software, we conducted the meta-analysis of the included studies by pooling the mean difference of the continuous variables, the number and a total of dichotomous variables. We conducted a sensitivity analysis to detect the source of heterogeneity. Results: The overall satisfaction rate using non-validated questionnaires was 93.86%, whereas the overall dissatisfaction rate was 6.14%. The overall satisfaction rate for articles using validated questionnaires was 52.03% and the overall dissatisfaction rate was 2.6%. The improvement rate in the quality of vision was 92.6%. The glare and clarity of vision were non-significant between LASIK groups and the control group SMD of − 0.26 (95% confidence interval [CI]: −0.79–0.27, P = 0.33) and SMD of − 0.35 (95% CI: −0.75–−0.04, P = 0.08), respectively. In hyperopic patients, the overall improvement of the quality of vision was 96% and in the myopic patients was 92.6%. Conclusion: These findings underscore the significant positive impact of LASIK surgery on patient satisfaction and QoL, particularly in myopic patients, with improvements observed over time and variations based on assessment methods.