TITLE:
Prevalence of microalbuminuria in type 2 diabetes patients in Tirana, a preliminary multicenter study
AUTHORS:
Nevi Pasko, Florian Toti, Ervin Zekollari, Arjana Strakosha, Viola Kacori, Nestor Thereska
KEYWORDS:
Microalbuminuria; Type 2 Diabetes; Epidemiology; Albania
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Diabetes Mellitus,
Vol.3 No.3,
July
24,
2013
ABSTRACT: Background:
Microalbuminuria is often the first sign of renal involvement predicting overt
nephropathy. For this reason, monitoring microalbuminuria and other risk
factors associated with this condition is important to take measures to prevent
or postpone overt nephropathy. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence
of microalbuminuria in type 2 diabetes patients attending three diabetes
centers in Tirana city. Patients and Methods: Two hundred and twenty patients
with type 2 diabetes attending diabetes centers in Tirana were recruited in
this crosssectional study. Medical records were used to collect data on
duration of diabetes, waist circumference,
history of hypertension, smoking. Blood samples were drawn after 12 h
overnight fasting to measure glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), serum cholesterol, triglyceride and
creatinine. Microalbuminuria was assessed using dipstick kits in early
morning urine samples. Results: The prevalence of normoalbuminuria was 58.3%,
microalbuminuria 38.6% and macroalbuminuria 3.1%. Systolic and diastolic
blood pressure (p p p moalbuminuric
subjects. Multiple logistic regression analysis using microalbuminuria as the
dependent variable in males shows that independent risk factors for diabetes
patients with microalbuminuria were duration of diabetes, systolic blood
pressure and waist circumference. We found that the OR for microalbuminuria became statistically significantly increased only at 16 years after the diagnosis
of type 2 diabetes. At this time, 43.7% of patients had microalbuminuria. Conclusions: We
found a high proportion of type 2 diabetes patients with microalbuminuria
which raises implications for health policy inAlbania. This calls for early detection
and good control of diabetes to reduce the burden of diabetic kidney disease
in the future. Screening programs and optimized control of modifiable risk
factors are needed to reduce the risk of diabetic nephropathy.