Purpose: To ascertain whether autorefractometry after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) provides results that are comparable with subjective refractometry.
Methods: The refractions of 159 eyes before and 1 month after PRK were determined with both automated and subjective refractometry, and the results of the two methods were compared.
Results: Before PRK, subjective spherical equivalent refraction ranged from -15.25 to +0.25 D (mean -5.30 +/- 2.64 D) and automated spherical equivalent refraction ranged from -16.13 to -0.50 D (mean -6.10 +/- 2.74 D), with good correlation (r2 = 0.965) between the two methods. One month after PRK, subjective spherical equivalent refraction ranged from -1.63 to +3.50 D (mean +0.98 +/- 0.78 D) and automated spherical equivalent refraction ranged from -2.50 to +3.00 D (mean +0.36 +/- 0.96 D) with poor correlation (r2 = 0.401).
Conclusion: Autorefractometry is less reliable in eyes after PRK, and consequently software changes are recommended for overcoming this problem.