Objective:

To compare vision-related quality of life, patient satisfaction, dry eye disease, and adverse events in people with myopia who undergo LASIK or wear contact lenses.

Approach:

• Review design: A prospectively registered systematic review and meta-analysis identified four eligible studies from 1,806 records, including 2,141 participants: 1,275 LASIK recipients and 866 contact lens users.
• Outcomes: Three studies with 341 participants contributed to the pooled quality-of-life analysis; satisfaction, dry eye, and adverse events were also assessed.

Key Findings:

• Quality-of-life results varied: the common-effect estimate favored LASIK, while the smaller random-effects estimate was not statistically significant amid substantial heterogeneity.
• Removing one study with an exclusively female contact lens cohort left a consistent quality-of-life benefit for LASIK, with heterogeneity falling to 0%.
• Satisfaction was reported by 88% of LASIK patients and 54% of contact lens users; 97% of participants who switched from contact lenses to LASIK preferred LASIK.
• In one large study, adverse events were reported in 9.5% of LASIK patients and 19.9% of contact lens users.
• Chronic dry eye was reported in 71% of contact lens wearers; LASIK-related dry-eye symptoms affected about 50–58% of patients and were predominantly acute early after surgery.

Interpretation:

The authors report higher satisfaction after LASIK and suggest it may reduce overall complication burden, but consider the quality-of-life evidence uncertain. Overall evidence certainty was rated low to moderate.

Limitations:

• Only four studies were eligible, and three contributed to the quality-of-life analysis.
• Differences in populations, study designs, follow-up periods, and quality-of-life instruments limit certainty.
• The quality-of-life analysis showed substantial heterogeneity, and one study favored contact lenses.

Conclusion:

The authors call for larger prospective studies using standardized patient-reported outcomes and longer follow-up. They also emphasize assessing dry-eye risk and counseling patients according to ocular health, lifestyle, and preferences.

Sources:

• Article context provided by the user