Quality of life following LASIK surgery at a tertiary center in North India.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Laser-assisted in situ keratomileuses (LASIK) refractive surgery is a cutting-edge and developing area of ophthalmology. Reshaping the cornea during refractive surgery helps patients become less dependent on glasses or contact lenses. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the visual outcome, quality of life, and patient satisfaction following LASIK surgery at a tertiary care center in North India using the National Eye Institute Refractive Error Quality of Life (NEIRQL-42) questionnaire. METHODS: NEI-RQL, a 42-item measure with 13 subscales. The questionnaire was administered to a sample size of 71 patients who underwent LASIK Surgery at a tertiary center in North India. Data were collected pre- and post-surgery (1,3,6 month post-LASIK) for myopic or hyperopic refractive error. Statistical analysis was done using the Friedman test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test. RESULTS: In myopic patients, the mean preoperative spherical equivalent (SE) was -4.19 ± 2.28D in the right eye and -4.26 ± 2.28D in the left eye and post-op SE -0.06±0.29 (p=0.00). The largest improvements (>25 points) on the 0 to 100 possible score range, were seen in activity limitations, dependence on correction, appearance, and satisfaction with correction subscales. The subscale glare showed a statistically significant difference (worsening) whereas a non-significant change (P> 0.05) was recorded only in the sub-optimal correction sub-scale. CONCLUSIONS: The NEIRQL-42 is a responsive tool to evaluate vision-related changes in quality of life after LASIK surgery in the Indian population. The best surgical expectancy and QoL can be expected at 6 months following surgery.

Indian craniometric variability and affinities.

Recently published craniometric and genetic studies indicate a predominantly indigenous ancestry of Indian populations. We address this issue with a fuller coverage of Indian craniometrics than any done before. We analyse metrical variability within Indian series, Indians' sexual dimorphism, differences between northern and southern Indians, index-based differences of Indian males from other series, and Indians' multivariate affinities. The relationship between a variable's magnitude and its variability is log-linear. This relationship is strengthened by excluding cranial fractions and series with a sample size less than 30. Male crania are typically larger than female crania, but there are also shape differences. Northern Indians differ from southern Indians in various features including narrower orbits and less pronounced medial protrusion of the orbits. Indians resemble Veddas in having small crania and similar cranial shape. Indians' wider geographic affinities lie with "Caucasoid" populations to the northwest, particularly affecting northern Indians. The latter finding is confirmed from shape-based Mahalanobis-D distances calculated for the best sampled male and female series. Demonstration of a distinctive South Asian craniometric profile and the intermediate status of northern Indians between southern Indians and populations northwest of India confirm the predominantly indigenous ancestry of northern and especially southern Indians.