Your equivalent corticosteroid dose is calculated based on relative anti-inflammatory (glucocorticoid) potency. The standard reference point is that 5 mg of prednisone is equivalent to 20 mg of hydrocortisone, 4 mg of methylprednisolone, 4 mg of triamcinolone, 0.75 mg of dexamethasone, and 0.6 mg of betamethasone. These equivalencies apply to anti-inflammatory effects only and do not reflect differences in mineralocorticoid activity, duration of action, or clinical appropriateness for a given indication.

It is important to understand that equivalent anti-inflammatory doses do not mean the steroids are interchangeable in all clinical situations. Duration of action varies substantially: hydrocortisone acts for 8–12 hours, prednisone for 12–36 hours, and dexamethasone for 36–72 hours. These pharmacokinetic differences influence dosing frequency and clinical application.

Use this converter when switching a patient from one systemic corticosteroid to another, such as transitioning from IV methylprednisolone to oral prednisone, or when comparing steroid doses across different clinical protocols. It is commonly needed during hospital discharge planning, steroid taper design, and when interpreting study protocols that use different corticosteroid preparations.

This tool is also helpful for educational purposes when comparing relative potencies. Clinicians frequently reference these equivalencies when managing conditions such as asthma exacerbations, COPD, autoimmune diseases, organ transplant immunosuppression, and adrenal insufficiency replacement therapy.

This converter addresses anti-inflammatory potency equivalence only. It does not account for differences in mineralocorticoid activity, which is clinically significant when choosing steroids for adrenal insufficiency (where both glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid replacement are needed). Hydrocortisone and cortisone have substantial mineralocorticoid effects; dexamethasone and methylprednisolone have essentially none.

The converter does not adjust for route of administration (oral, IV, IM, topical, inhaled), bioavailability differences between formulations, or individual patient factors such as hepatic metabolism. Cortisone and prednisone are prodrugs requiring hepatic conversion to their active forms (hydrocortisone and prednisolone, respectively), which may be impaired in liver disease. Additionally, high-dose or long-term steroid equivalence calculations should always be verified with clinical pharmacology resources, as prolonged use introduces nonlinear effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.