2015 Volume 27 Issue 4 Pages 327-333
Objective: To investigate the incidence rate of steroid-induced mental disorders, and the relationship between mental disorders and steroid dose in inpatients who consulted the consultation-liaison service (CL) of Kyushu University Hospital. Method: In this study, we calculated the incidence rate of steroid-induced mental disorders among 1,106 CL-referred inpatients from all departments in the hospital from April 2008 to March 2011. In addition, we assessed medical records of 1,389 steroid-dosed inpatients from five departments in which steroid-induced mental disorders occurred frequently. (1) Using the chi square test, the relationship between steroid dose and administration method was analyzed in all steroid-dosed inpatients from the five departments (n=1,389), regardless of whether they were referred to the CL. (2) Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the interaction between steroid-induced mental disorders (16/69) and clinical factors (sex, age, steroid dose and administration method, and referral client) in inpatients referred to the CL (n=69) from these five departments. Results: The incidence rate of steroid-induced mental disorders among CL-referred inpatients was 2.3% (25/1,106). The cumulative dose of steroids administered in the month prior to CL consultation was significantly higher in the inpatients diagnosed with steroid-induced mental disorders than in those who were not diagnosed with steroid-induced mental disorders. On the other hand, the peak dose administered over the same duration to the inpatients diagnosed with steroid-induced mental disorders was not statistically higher than that in inpatients without steroid-induced mental disorders. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that a high cumulative dose of steroids in the previous month may be a risk factor for steroid-induced mental disorders.
