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LASIK complications and the Internet: is the public being misled?
Daragh Kennedy Fahey1, Julius Weinberg
1City University, MIM Centre, London, England. faheydaragh@hotmail.com
Background:
LASIK (Laser in Situ Keratomileusis) is a very popular combined surgical and laser procedure, which is used to correct myopia (shortsightedness) and hyperopia (farsightedness). There is concern that the public is being misled regarding the safety of the procedure.
Objectives:
To assess the quality and quantity of the information on complications on LASIK Web sites.
Method:
Serial analysis and evaluation of the authorship, content, and technical quality of the information on the complications of LASIK on 21 Web sites.
Results:
Of the 21 LASIK Web sites visited, 17 were commercial. Of the 21 Web sites, 5 (24%) had no information on complications. Of the 16 sites that had information on complications the author of the information was clearly identified in 5 (31%), the content was only referenced in 2 (12.5%), and evidence of the information having been updated was only seen in 2 (12.5%). The quantity of information is generally minimal and the information itself is generally difficult to understand and locate.
Conclusion:
The quality and quantity of the information on the Web on the complications of LASIK are poor. More work is required to encourage clear, accurate, up-to-date, clearly authored, and well-referenced, balanced ophthalmic information.