Table 9.

Reasons for stopping corticosteroid abruptly

Reason for stopping corticosteroid abruptly	Number of events (%)
1. Patient not swallowing	33 (45.8%)
2. Patient stopped their own corticosteroid	4 (5.6%)
3. Gastric bleed	2 (2.8%)
4. Documented adverse effects	3 (4.2%)
5. Switched to bolus dose or short course	6 (8.3%)
6. Reason not documented	24 (33.3%)
Total	72* (100%)

*72 of 310 corticosteroid prescribing events (23.2%) were recorded as ‘stopped abruptly’.