[Hypomania under corticotherapy. About 50 cases]

Our study was to determine the prevalence of hypomania as a complication of corticotherapy and to discuss its clinical and etiopathogenic aspects, but also to heighten the practitioners on the importance of screening this disorder, which become easy with psychometric scales, such Angst one. Our final purpose was the secondary and tertiary prevention of this disorder, which may cause many complications.

We have applied the Angst scale of hypomania to 50 patients, aged between 18 and 80 years, and put under corticotherapy, at dose varying between 10 and 100 mg of prednisone per day. A score superior or equals 10 was taken as a sign of hypomania.

Fourteen patients (28%), at 43.35 year of mean age, have presented an episode of hypomania under corticoids. This prevalence was more important in patients with lupus (38.89%) in comparison with other patients (21.86%). The symptomatology has begun in 12 cases (85.7% of all cases), during the first month of treatment. The average posology used varies between 60 and 100 mg of prednisone per day.

The prevalence of psychiatric problems under oral corticotherapy is difficult to estimate, but is almost 15%, according to other studies. Actually, we know that this prevalence in under estimated. This underline the importance of doing an active research of these problems in patients under corticotherapy, either by direct questioning or clinical observation, or by passing appropriate questionnaires and an adapted evaluation scale, with the aim of secondary and tertiary prevention.