Prevalence of microalbuminuria and its risk factors in type 2 diabetes patients

Background: Microalbuminuria represents an abnormally elevated urine albumin levels, although below the sensitivity of conventional semi-quantitative test strip. It is defined as urinary albumin excretion rate between 30-300mg/24hr or 20-200μl/min. Currently it is a marker both of nephropathy and cardiovascular risk in DM patients.Objectives: To determine the prevalence of microalbuminuria and its risk factors among type 2 diabetes mellitus and non diabetics.Patients and Methods: A total of 125 participants (males=47) and (females=78) were randomly selected for the study. The weight, height and blood pressure of the patients were measured and their blood and early morning urine samples were obtained for plasma glucose and albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR) respectively. Microalbuminuria was diagnosed if ACR was between 30-300mg/g on 2 out of 3 occasions.Results: Prevalence of microalbuminuria was 68.4%.There were higher mean ACR values in the diabetics than non- diabetics (controls). The prevalence of microalbuminuria increased with increasing age. The mean ACR values were higher in the males than females. The Chi squared analysis revealed that microalbuminuria was correlated with age (p=0.001). No statistical correlation was found between microalbuminuria and sex (p=0.6889).Conclusion: Determination of Albumin: Creatinine Ratio is an easy method for screening of microalbuminuria, hence this is suggested for all diabetic patients especially those with hypertension and long term duration.Keywords: Prevalence, Microalbuminuria, Normoalbuminuria, ACR (Albumin: Creatinine Ratio), Type 2 DM