Lens-wearing and satisfaction of perk patients ten years after surgery on the first eye

Purpose. To examine the association between lens-wearing and satisfaction among PERK patients 10 years after surgery on the first eye, and to compare 10-year data with 6-year data. Methods. A questionnaire which assessed lens-wearing behavior, visual function, side-effects, and satisfaction was administered to patients in the Prospective Evaluation of Radial Keratotomy (PERK) Study an average of 10.7 years after first eye surgery and 6.6 years after second eye surgery. Analyses were conducted on the 321 (of 435) patients who had surgery on both eyes and who completed a questionnaire as part of the 10-year examination. Similar data collected at the 6-year examination were available for 303 (of 321) patients. Results. Thirty-nine percent (N=126) reported no use of lenses at 10 years (with 24 of these patients reporting they "should" use lenses); 22% reported wearing lenses only for close vision; 25% reported using lenses only for distance vision; and 13% reported wearing lenses for both close and distance vision. Sixty-two percent of patients (N=187) reported wearing lenses for the same tasks at both time periods. Lens-wearing does not differ with patient gender but does differ with age. Sixty-one percent (N=57) of patients less than 40 wear no lenses at 10 years, while only 35% (N=64) of those 40-49 and 11% (N=5) of those over 50 are lens-free. Satisfaction averaged 5.0 (on a 7-point scale) at 10 years with an average overall drop of 0.19 between 6 and 10 years. Satisfaction at 10 years, 6 years and the change in satisfaction over time varied significantly with the reasons given for wearing lenses at the two time periods. There was no change in satisfaction level for those patients who continued to wear no lenses at 10 years; the largest drop in satisfaction was among the 27 patients who went from wearing no lenses at 6 years to wearing lenses for close vision at 10 years. Satisfaction increased slightly for the 38 persons who reported wearing lenses for distance only at both 6 and 10 years. Conclusions. Satisfaction declines slightly over time particularly for those patients who began to use lenses between 6 and 10 years.