Behavioral pain scale may not be reliable in awake non-verbal intensive care patients: a case control study.

"Declarations Ethics approvalThis study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. It was approved by the local ethics committee (Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany, Grant Number of Approval 18-6620-BR) and registered at the German Clinical Trials Register Identifier (DRKS00021233) on 23/04/2020. Informed consent was obtained by all patients, if possible, via head nodding, blinking, or the patients’ legal representatives. If necessary, appropriate consent from patients without family support was confirmed by persons unrelated to the investigation. This study adheres to the “Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement”. We certify that all applicable institutional and governmental regulations concerning the ethical use of human volunteers were followed during this research. Consent for publicationNot applicable. Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing interests. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests."

"Funding This work was supported by the “Junior Clinician Scientist Program” of the Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany [Grant Number K129-19]. The funding bodies had no influence on the design of the study, the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, nor in writing the manuscript. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL."

"Trial registration German Clinical Trials Register, Registration number: DRKS00021233. Registered 23 April 2020 - Retrospectively registered, https://drks.de/search/en/trial/DRKS00021233."