 on behalf of The European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons has revealed that 80% of Europeans have reservations about having laser eye surgery themselves despite 69% believing it to be a safe and established procedure.

Approximately, two out of three people cited some degree of fear at the prospect of laser vision correction as the reason for their caution, while about a third said that they would need more information. 

ESCRS president José Guell of Barcelona said: LASIK can be a life changing procedure, but these survey results show that people do not understand just how safe and effective modern LASIK is in the hands of a well qualified and experienced laser eye surgeon. We hope that our new campaign, LASIK Safe in Our Hands will help to bridge the information gap so that more people might benefit from good vision without glasses or contact lenses. 

The survey also highlighted that over 70% of Europeans think that wearing glasses or contact lenses makes it difficult to participate in some sports and nearly 75% think that wearing glasses is inconvenient in different weather conditions. Buying and replacing glasses and contact lenses is perceived to be expensive by 84% of people taking part in the survey (n=1000) but only about a third think that laser eye surgery provides a cheaper alternative if the cost is spread over a ten year period. 