Study psychoemotional status in patients planning keratorefractive surgery using SMILE procedure

Purpose. To study frequency and degree of mental stress among patients with myopia planning to keratorefractive surgery using SMILE procedure. Material and methods. In-depth psychological study was carried out in 145 patients planning for keratorefractive surgery. The average age of the patients is 37 years. At the first stage, patients with an increased level of psychological anxiety were identified using the «Unfinished sentences» method. At the second stage, among the selected patients, we studied the degree of their mental stress using stress scale with the Psychological Stress Measure (PSM-25) questionnaire. Results. At the first stage, 42 patients (29%) were identified with increased level of psychological anxiety: 20 men and 22 women. Their average age was 35 years. At the second stage, it turned out that 9 patients had high level mental stress; in 13 – average and in 20 people – low (the latter are psychologically stable). During routine external examination and interview with ophthalmologist, patients with average and high-level mental stress indicator did not have any characteristic differences both from patients with low level mental stress indicator and from the rest of patients in general population. Conclusion. At conducting screening psychological test among the surveyed large population of patients with myopia planning to keratorefractive surgery, 29% patients with unstable psychoemotional status were identified. Among the selected patients with unstable psychoemotional status, 21.5% had a high level of mental stress; 31% have average level and 47.5% have low level. Key words: patient anxiety, preoperative stress, psychological stress diagnosis