Abstract
Over 10% of hospital inpatients receive treatment with glucocorticoids and yet the incidence of steroid diabetes (SD), and therefore monitoring requirements, in these patients is unknown. Acute illness can also induce hyperglycaemia through neuroendocrine and inflammatory responses, which may be exacerbated by use of glucocorticoids. We determined the incidence of SD in acute medical admissions and whether SD corresponds to illness severity rather than to the dose of glucocorticoid administered.