STATIS multivariate three-way method for evaluating quality of life after corneal surgery: Methodology and case study in Costa Rica

Vision-related quality of life (QoL) analyzes the visual function concerning individual well-being based on activity and social participation. Because QoL is a multivariate construct, a multivariate statistical method must be used to analyze this construct. In this paper, we present a methodology based on STATIS multivariate three-way methods to assess the real change in vision-related QoL for myopic patients by comparing their conditions before and after corneal surgery. We conduct a case study in Costa Rica to detect the outcomes of patients referred for myopia that underwent refractive surgery. We consider a descriptive, observational and prospective study. We utilize the NEI VFQ-25 instru-ment to measure the vision-related QoL in five different stages over three months. After applying this instrument/questionnaire, a statistically significant difference was detected between the perceived QoL levels. In addition, strong correlations were identified with highly similar structures ranging from 0.857 to 0.940. The application of the dual STATIS method found the non-existence of reconceptu-alization in myopic patients, but a statistically significant recalibration was identified. Furthermore, a real change was observed in all patients after surgery. This finding has not been stated previously due to the limitations of the existing statistical tools. We demonstrated that dual STATIS is a multivari-ate method capable of evaluating vision-related QoL data and detecting changes in recalibration and reconceptualization.