Independent Variables
Demographic data included age, gender, pre-admission medical
comorbidities and premorbid swallow status. During hospital admission,
data on neurological manifestations of COVID-19 were captured. The
patient’s most recent chest x-ray at time of initial SLT assessment was
rated using a validated five-point ordinal scoring system (18).
Intubation variables collated from healthcare records were grade of
intubation (1-4), number of endo-tracheal tubes (ETT) used, maximum ETT
cuff pressure during intubation, number of failed extubations and
presence of intubation injury. Data on proning and proning-related
injury were collected. Tracheostomy insertion, tracheostomy type and
size, time to decannulation were also included. Length of ICU stay
(LOSICU) and hospital length of stay (LOS) were recorded.