Quality of Life After Laser Vision Correction: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Purpose: To analyze patients' quality of life (QOL) after laser vision correction (LVC) from a worldwide literature review. Methods: Studies of prospective or cross-sectional design which evaluated QOL in patients after LVC and compared that to preoperative values or a matched group of emmetropes were included. The Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and ProQuest were searched for relevant articles published until February 2024. The fixed- or random-effects models were used to estimate the weighted mean difference (WMD) for postoperative QOL changes. Meta-regression was conducted for adjusting the effects of potential confounders. Results: A total of 11 peer-reviewed articles (1753 patients) were included in the study. LVC improved QOL of patients at one (SMD = 0.38, 95% CI: 0.15, 0.60), three (SMD = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.55, 1.50), and six months after surgery (SMD = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.30, 1.11). In meta-regression analysis, QOL improvement was lower in older patients compared to younger ones (β = -0.06, 95% CI: -0.11, -0.01). Also, no statistically significant difference was noted while comparing QOL in post-laser refractive surgery patients and emmetropes (SMD = -0.44, 95% CI: -0.95, 0.07). Conclusion: Patients undergoing LVC experience significant improvements in QOL, particularly in younger subjects, and achieve comparable QOL to individuals with emmetropia.