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.