Hacerse cirugía ocular LASIK vs seguir usando gafas o lentes de contacto
Si actúas
Hacerse LASIK
4,0%
Si no actúas
Seguir usando gafas o lentes de contacto
25%
Porcentaje de quienes luego se arrepienten de cada elección. Las barras y el registro completo aparecen abajo.
Salud
Última revisión 2026-05-10
Calidad de la evidencia 4.13/5
Puntuación de revisión en ocho dimensiones según la
rúbrica de calidad
. Cada dimensión puntuada de 1 a 5.
D1 Verificación de fuentes
4/5
D2 Autoridad e independencia de las fuentes
5/5
D3 Precisión de la tasa de arrepentimiento
2/5
D4 Comparabilidad de las fuentes
3/5
D5 Patrón de Gilovich
5/5
D6 Calidad de la prosa
5/5
D7 Completitud de las advertencias
5/5
D8 Calidad de la muestra
4/5
Media4.13/5
Datos sustitutos — no existe ninguna encuesta directa sobre el arrepentimiento para esta decisión. Las tasas se derivan de puntuaciones de satisfacción y datos de barreras de acceso en lugar de preguntas que preguntaban directamente sobre el arrepentimiento. Ver advertencias más abajo.
Arrepentimiento por acción
Hacerse LASIK
4,0%
1–4% insatisfecho con la visión o la cirugía (estudios PROWL)
Pacientes LASIK, estudios observacionales prospectivos colaborativos con FDA
6 meses post-procedimiento
Arrepentimiento por inacción
Seguir usando gafas o lentes de contacto
25%
no hay encuesta directa de arrepentimiento — proxy: el 40% de quienes usan lentes correctivas dice que se plantearía la LASIK 'en algún momento' (intención con vistas al futuro, no un arrepentimiento medido)
Adultos estadounidenses que usan lentes correctivas, encuesta Gallup
transversal, 2000
% que se arrepienten de esta elección
Hacerse LASIKSeguir usando gafas o lentes de contacto
4,0%25%
inaction dominates — Domina la inacción — la mayoría se arrepiente de no actuar.
Decisiones relacionadas
Decisiones semánticamente similares — mismo terreno, distintos compromisos.
The FDA-supported LASIK Quality of Life Collaboration Project (PROWL studies, n=574) found that dissatisfaction with vision after LASIK ranged from 1% to 4% across two prospective cohorts; dissatisfaction with the surgery itself was 1—2%. These are the highest-quality outcome data available, conducted under joint FDA/NIH/DoD oversight. A smaller cohort study (n=200) found 98.5% satisfied or very satisfied. Self-selected patient review data from RealSelf (446 reviews, 2007—2022) placed the “not worth it” rate at 12.6% — substantially higher, consistent with the well-documented negativity bias in voluntary online reviews. The 4% PROWL upper bound is used as the action regret estimate; 12.6% is a plausible ceiling.
On the inaction side, no published survey directly asks glasses or contact lens wearers whether they regret not having LASIK. The closest proxy is a Gallup survey (n=1,050, 2000) finding that 40% of corrective-lens wearers would consider laser eye surgery at some point — with roughly 11% expressing intent within the next year or two. A longitudinal comparison study (n=1,800 over 3 years) found that contact lens wearer strong satisfaction declined from 63% at baseline to 54% by year 3, while 88% of former contact wearers who switched to LASIK remained strongly satisfied at year 3. We use 25% as a conservative inaction proxy, adjusting down from the 40% consideration rate to reflect the gap between consideration intent and genuine retrospective regret.
The pattern is consistent with Gilovich and Medvec’s inaction-dominates finding: the people who never got LASIK — whether due to cost, fear of complications, or inertia — sustain a persistent open counterfactual, while those who proceeded overwhelmingly report the outcome as positive. The main reason the action rate stays low is rigorous candidate screening: patients with thin corneas, severe dry eye, or high prescriptions outside the safe treatment range are excluded. The failures — chronic dry eye, corneal ectasia, halos and glare — are real but relatively uncommon among properly screened candidates, and they account for most of the action regret in the data. The inaction side has no such natural screening; any corrective-lens wearer who “always meant to get it” qualifies.
Fuentes: acción
Registro de evidencia
Cada número a continuación es lo que reportó cada fuente, con la cita textual en la que nos basamos y cómo llegamos a nuestra cifra. Haz clic en cualquier enlace para verificarlo directamente.
2/3 fuentes verificadas de forma independiente palabra por palabra frente a la fuente citada
[1]JAMA Ophthalmology — Symptoms and Satisfaction of Patients in the Patient-Reported Outcomes With Laser In Situ Keratomileusis (PROWL) Studies
Verificado
Revisado por pares
Dissatisfaction with vision 1–4%; dissatisfaction with surgery 1–2%; most participants satisfied
Extracto
“"While most participants were satisfied, the rates of dissatisfaction with vision ranged from 1% (95% CI, 0%-4%) to 4% (95% CI, 2%-7%), and the rates of dissatisfaction with surgery ranged from 1% (95% CI, 0%-4%) to 2% (95% CI, 1%-5%)."
”
Datos de la fuente de
2017-01-19
Accedido
2026-05-10
Verificación
Extracto recuperado de forma independiente y confirmado palabra por palabra frente a la fuente citada durante nuestra auditoría de fundamentación.
Cálculo
PROWL-1 (n=262, military, single center) and PROWL-2 (n=312, civilians, 5 centers) -- prospective observational studies September 2011 to June 2014, conducted under FDA/NIH/DoD collaboration (the LASIK Quality of Life Collaboration Project). Dissatisfaction with vision in PROWL-2 reached 4% (95% CI 2--7%). We use 4% as the action-side regret rate, taking the upper end of the PROWL range as the more conservative public-health estimate. The PROWL studies are the gold-standard FDA-supported dataset; they do not use the word "regret" but measure dissatisfaction with both outcome and procedure -- the closest available proxy.
[2]Journal of Ophthalmology (PMC) — Functional Outcome and Patient Satisfaction after Laser In Situ Keratomileusis for Correction of Myopia and Myopic Astigmatism
Verificado
↗ 1 other entry
Revisado por pares
98.5% of patients satisfied or very satisfied; 98.5% considered main goal achieved; n=200
Extracto
“"A total of 98.5% of patients was satisfied or very satisfied with their surgery. 98.5% considered their main goal for surgery was achieved. 97.5% would advise friends to do the LASIK treatment."
”
Datos de la fuente de
2015-01-19
Accedido
2026-05-10
Verificación
Extracto recuperado de forma independiente y confirmado palabra por palabra frente a la fuente citada durante nuestra auditoría de fundamentación.
Cálculo
Prospective cohort study, n=200 LASIK patients for myopia and myopic astigmatism. The 1.5% dissatisfied rate corroborates the PROWL floor. Used as secondary corroboration. The 4% figure from PROWL-2 is preferred as the action-rate anchor because PROWL used a broader multi-center design and FDA oversight.
[3]Ophthalmology and Therapy (Dove Press / PMC) — Patient-Reported LASIK Outcomes on RealSelf: a Social Media Review Platform
Revisado por pares
“"Of 446 reviews with explicit satisfaction ratings, 78.0% (348 reviews) rated LASIK as 'worth it', 12.6% (56 reviews) as 'not worth it', and 9.4% (42 reviews) as 'not sure'."
”
Datos de la fuente de
2025-06-01
Accedido
2026-05-10
Cálculo
Retrospective analysis of 523 LASIK reviews posted to RealSelf 2007--2022. The 12.6% "not worth it" rate substantially exceeds the PROWL clinical dissatisfaction figures, consistent with self-selection: people who had negative outcomes are more motivated to post public reviews than those who are satisfied. Not used as the primary rate; included to acknowledge the ceiling of dissatisfaction in self-selected patient-reported data. The PROWL 4% is preferred as the primary action rate because it comes from a prospectively enrolled, FDA-supervised cohort with mandatory follow-up.
Independencia
RealSelf is a patient review platform with financial relationships with cosmetic procedure providers. The study analyzed reviews rather than enrolling patients; severe self-selection bias applies.
Fuentes: inacción
Registro de evidencia
Cada número a continuación es lo que reportó cada fuente, con la cita textual en la que nos basamos y cómo llegamos a nuestra cifra. Haz clic en cualquier enlace para verificarlo directamente.
1/2 fuentes verificadas de forma independiente palabra por palabra frente a la fuente citada
[1]Gallup — Forty Percent of Americans Who Use Glasses Would Consider Laser Eye Surgery
Verificado
Fuente de referencia
40% of US glasses/contacts wearers would consider laser eye surgery; ~10-11% said within the next 1-2 years
Extracto
“"Over four out of ten Americans who wear glasses or contacts would consider having laser eye surgery to correct their vision problems at some point in the future. About 10 percent of current glasses or contact wearers are considering it within the next year or two."
”
Datos de la fuente de
2000-02-15
Accedido
2026-05-10
Verificación
Extracto recuperado de forma independiente y confirmado palabra por palabra frente a la fuente citada durante nuestra auditoría de fundamentación.
Cálculo
Gallup survey of 1,050 US adults, February 14--15, 2000. The verified finding is that "over four out of ten Americans who wear glasses or contacts would consider having laser eye surgery ... at some point in the future," with about 10-11% considering it within the next year or two. This is a FORWARD-LOOKING ASPIRATION (would-consider intent), not a retrospective measure of regret about not having had LASIK -- the Gallup poll does not ask any regret question. No published survey directly asks corrective-lens wearers whether they regret not having LASIK; that direct-regret figure does not exist. The 0.25 stored on this side is therefore an aspiration-derived PLACEHOLDER, decoupled from any claim of measured inaction-regret: it is a conservative downward adjustment from the 40% "would consider" intent figure, kept only because the schema requires a numeric rate on each side. The regret_display states this explicitly. This survey is from 2000 and predates modern wavefront/topography-guided LASIK, so current intent among glasses/contacts wearers may differ.
[2]Ophthalmology — Three-Year Longitudinal Survey Comparing Visual Satisfaction with LASIK and Contact Lenses
Revisado por pares
Contact lens wearer strong satisfaction declined from 63% to 54% over 3 years; 88% of former contact wearers who switched to LASIK strongly satisfied at year 3
Extracto
“"[Paraphrase from abstract -- full text paywalled] The proportion of contact lens control participants expressing strong satisfaction with their correction method decreased from 63% at baseline to 54% at year 3. Among former contact lens wearers who received LASIK, 88% were strongly satisfied at year 3."
”
Datos de la fuente de
2016-07-01
Accedido
2026-05-10
Cálculo
Multicenter prospective longitudinal study, n=1,800 across 20 US sites (3 groups: continued contacts, switched from contacts to LASIK, switched from glasses to LASIK). The declining satisfaction trend in the contact lens group (63% to 54%) compared to the high retained satisfaction in the LASIK group (88% at 3 years) supports the directional inference that non-surgery carries a latent dissatisfaction cost over time. This is not a regret measure -- it is a comparative satisfaction trajectory -- but it corroborates the inaction-proxy estimate.
Advertencias
Las medidas de acción e inacción no coinciden metodológicamente. La cifra del 4% de arrepentimiento del lado de la acción procede de los estudios PROWL (supervisados por la FDA, n=574, con inscripción prospectiva), que miden la insatisfacción a los 6 meses — no el arrepentimiento directo. Los resultados a largo plazo (ectasia corneal, ojo seco progresivo, regresión que requiere retratamiento) pueden desplazar la tasa de acción al alza en seguimientos más prolongados; PROWL no siguió a los pacientes más allá de los 6 meses en las medidas de satisfacción. Los datos de reseñas autoseleccionadas de RealSelf (12,6% «no valió la pena») proporcionan un límite superior del mundo real, pero están sujetos a un sesgo de negatividad sustancial. La tasa de inacción (25%) es un proxy construido a partir de una encuesta de consideración de Gallup (2000, n=1.050) y un estudio longitudinal de comparación de satisfacción — ninguno es una medida directa de arrepentimiento. La intención de consideración (40%) se ajusta a la baja hasta el 25% para reflejar la brecha entre «se lo plantearía» y «se arrepiente de no haberlo hecho». Ninguna encuesta publicada pregunta directamente a quienes usan gafas o lentes de contacto si se arrepienten de no haberse hecho la LASIK; en ausencia de tales datos, la tasa de inacción conlleva una incertidumbre sustancial. La encuesta de Gallup es anterior a las técnicas modernas de LASIK (guiada por frente de onda, guiada por topografía) que han mejorado aún más los resultados — las tasas de consideración actuales entre quienes usan gafas/lentes de contacto pueden diferir. El patrón de predominio de la inacción es en general coherente con la literatura de satisfacción (la mayoría de quienes se hacen la LASIK están satisfechos; muchos de quienes no lo hacen siguen usando lentes correctivas con una satisfacción decreciente con el tiempo), pero la brecha estimada de 21 puntos es aproximada más que derivada empíricamente.
