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Report: LASIK patients less likely to use Rx vision correction postop

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According to data compiled from the 2013 Vision Council report: Eyewear Habits of Refractive Surgery/LASIK Patients, post-LASIK patients are less likely to use various prescription vision correction methods than the general population, a Vision Council press release said.

In particular, only 25.7% of previous surgery patients use prescription eyeglasses, only 8.3% use contact lenses and only 5.7% use prescription sunglasses, the release said.

The data also indicated that female refractive surgery patients were slightly more likely to use prescription eyeglasses or contact lenses to correct vision problems than male patients, according to the release.

Additionally, it seemed that postrefractive surgery patients who had their surgery 5 years or more ago were significantly more likely to use forms of prescription vision correction than those who had had their surgery more recently. However, the 5-year+ group was still far less likely to use prescription vision correction than the general population, the release said.

In all, just under half of postrefractive patients currently use some form of vision correction, compared to about 76% of the total adult population in the U.S., the release said.

On the contrary, usage rates for plano sunglass and over-the-counter reading glasses among postrefractive patients are far higher than the national average. More than 96% of postrefractive patients currently wear plano sunglasses (vs. 86.0% of the total adult population) and almost one-fifth of all surgery patients currently wear over-the-counter reading glasses (vs. 11.8% of the total adult population), according to the release.

Moreover, as more time elapsed from the date of the surgery, usage rates for plano sunglasses and over-the-counter reading glasses increased, the release said.

Also, the report found refractive surgery patients were 50% more likely to wear high-end premium plano sunglasses ($50+) when compared to the general adult population, according to the release.