quality of life (qol) in myopia corrected with photorefractive keratectomy, contact lenses and spectacles

purpose: the impact of photo refractive keratectomy compared with using glasses or contact lens on patient’s quality of life (qol) in myopia. method: in this retrospective cohort study, 102 myopic patient who had undergone prk (at least 6 months ago) and 106 myopic patients using glasses or contact lens were included. changes in vision related qol, uncorrected and best corrected visual acuity (ucva, bcva) and refraction were compared between the two groups. qol was assessed using the vfq-25 questionnaire which contains 25 questions in 12 subscales (score: 0-100). result: total qol score in patients using glasses or contact lens, and patients who had undergone prk was 86.1±10.7 and 97±4.4 respectively (p≤0.001). in most subscales including general health, general vision, near activities, distance activities, social function, mental health, role difficulties, dependency, driving and peripheral vision, patients who had undergone prk received higher scores and was in a better condition (p≤0.001). conclusion: visual problems and consequential stresses are significantly decreased in patients who have undergone prk compared with patients who use glasses or contact lens. prk is associated with a significant increase in qol.