A survey of the quality oflife of LASIK patients and an assessment of the factors that influence it

：Objective To measure thequality of life (QOL) of Chinese patients after LASIK and to analyze the factors thatinfluence postoperative QOL. Methods A Chinese version of the Quality of life impact ofrefractive correction (QIRC) questionnaire was used to survey 115 patients before and 3months after LASIK. The questionnaire included symptoms, visual and physiologicalfunction, social activity, mental state and psychological assessment. All participantswere 18～40years old. There were 64 females and 51 males in the patient population, 70 patients withlow or medium status and 45 with high or very high status. The change in QOL was analyzedby paired-sample t test and influencing factors were analyzed by Logistic regression.Results The overall QOL score for patients improved from 39.15±4.23 to 41.78±4.76(t=-4.63, P<0.01) after LASIK surgery. There was no significant difference in thechange in QOL when corrective error status (t=1.53, P=0.22), gender (t=1.83, P=0.58) andage (t=1.73, P=0.75) were compared. Logistic regression analysis showed that the higherQOL score for patients had significantly increased odds with eye protection [odds ratio(OR)=5.93, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.57-22.36], fewer complications (OR=15,13, 95% CI2.57-88.94), little concern about cost (OR=7.80, 95% CI 1.66-36.71), convenience (OR=10.36, 95% CI 2.44-44.05), feeling complimented (OR=3.90, 95% CI 1.08-14.13) and confident(OR=12.73, 95% CI 2.97-54.57). Preoperative QOL (OR=-0.07, 95% CI -0.16-2.86),preoperative refraction (OR= 0.57, 95% CI 0.12-2.74), age (OR=0.83, 95% CI 0.11-6.17),gender (OR=20.50, 95% CI 0.85-494.06) and educational background (OR=0.17, 95% CI0.03-0.99) showed no signifi- cant association with postoperative QOL. ConclusionSignificant QOL improvements are found in the majority of LASIK patients. Eye protection,fewer complications, cost, convenience, feeling compli- mented and confident are factorsthat influenced postoperative QOL in patients. Key words: Keratomileusis,laser in situ; Odds ration; Quality oflife; Quality of life impact of refractive correction