[Needs and expectations of patients during pain treatment]

Many patients accept sedation in the early phase or in the course of sort-term opioid treatment in exchange for adequate pain relief. Long-term pain treatment often alters the priorities of patients from pure pain relief to their ability to function in everyday life, which includes mobility and driving a car. Patients with malignant or other diseases often have numerous concomitant symptoms which may directly affect their driving ability. A significant percentage of patients will have an improvement in cognitive and physical abilities as a result of appropriate analgesic treatment with opioids and may thus be able to do what they had previously not been able to (e.g. driving). But the result of testing driving ability can also have great significance in other areas of life. In consequence we find that patients who have done poorly in driving tests will have difficulties also in other areas, just as the opposite may be true.