Title |
Effect of chronic opioid therapy on actual driving performance in non-cancer pain patients
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Published in |
Psychopharmacology, February 2017
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DOI | 10.1007/s00213-017-4539-3 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Markus B. Schumacher, Stefan Jongen, Anja Knoche, Frank Petzke, Eric F. Vuurman, Mark Vollrath, Johannes G. Ramaekers |
Abstract |
Chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) is a major health problem. Patients are increasingly treated with chronic opioid therapy (COT). Several laboratory studies have demonstrated that long-term use of opioids does not generally impair driving related skills. But there is still a lack of studies investigating on-the-road driving performance in actual traffic. The present study assessed the impact of COT on road-tracking and car-following performance in CNCP patients. Twenty CNCP patients, long-term treated with stable doses of opioid analgesics, and 19 healthy controls conducted standardized on-the-road driving tests in normal traffic. Performance of controls with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.5 g/L was used as a reference to define clinically relevant changes in driving performance. Standard Deviation of Lateral Position (SDLP), a measure of road-tracking control, was 2.57 cm greater in CNCP patients than in sober controls. This difference failed to reach statistical significance in a superiority test. Equivalence testing indicated that the 95% CI around the mean SDLP change was equivalent to the SDLP change seen in controls with a BAC of 0.5 g/L and did not include zero. When corrected for age differences between groups the 95% CI widened to include both the alcohol reference criterion and zero. No difference was found in car-following performance. Driving performance of CNCP patients did not significantly differ from that of controls due to large inter-individual variations. Hence in clinical practice determination of fitness to drive of CNCP patients who receive opioid treatments should be based on an individual assessment. |
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Unknown | 2 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Members of the public | 2 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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Unknown | 42 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
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Student > Master | 8 | 19% |
Other | 5 | 12% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 5 | 12% |
Researcher | 4 | 10% |
Student > Bachelor | 4 | 10% |
Other | 4 | 10% |
Unknown | 12 | 29% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
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Medicine and Dentistry | 10 | 24% |
Psychology | 6 | 14% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 2 | 5% |
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 1 | 2% |
Computer Science | 1 | 2% |
Other | 6 | 14% |
Unknown | 16 | 38% |