Background: We aimed to assess the point prevalence of microalbuminuria (MAU) in a sample of unselected consecutive primary-care attendees, with particular focus on patients with diabetes mellitus (with and without additional concomitant diseases) and those with hypertension.
Design: Cross-sectional observational study in a nationwide representative sample of 1912 primary-care practices and a patient population consisting of 39 125 primary-care attendees. Diagnoses for diabetes, hypertension and co-morbidities were provided by the treating physician and complemented by blood pressure (BP) measurements and selected lab tests. Screening for microalbuminuria (>20 and <200 μg/ml) was done with a spot urine dipstick test.
Results: The clinical diagnosis of nephropathy was assigned to 7.6% of patients. The point prevalence of MAU was 19.0% in the total sample; the proportion was 33.6% in diabetics whereas the diagnosis was assigned to only 7.1% in the total sample. Amongst diabetic patients with MAU, 92.6% had BP above the target value of < 130/80 mmHg. Frequency rates rose with increasing BP (e.g. 20.6% in diabetic patients with BP< 120/70 mmHg, and 36.3% in diabetic patients with BP > 140/90 mmHg). Of note, patients with MAU had a higher burden of co-morbidity compared to those without MAU.
Conclusions: We found a high prevalence of MAU in primary care, particularly in diabetic patients. The frequency of MAU was closely related to the BP level and the degree of co-morbidity. The present study underlines the magnitude of the problem of MAU in primary care, and should serve as a starting point to initiate measures to address this important public health issue.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa.de:bsz:14-qucosa-106780 |
| Date | 26 February 2013 |
| Creators | Bramlage, Peter, Pittrow, David, Lehnert, Hendrik, Höfler, Michael, Kirch, Wilhelm, Ritz, Eberhard, Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich |
| Contributors | Technische Universität Dresden, Fakultät Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften |
| Publisher | Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | doc-type:article |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, Bd. 14 (2007), Nr. 1, S. 107-113 , ISSN: 1741-8267 |
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