MICROALBUMINURIA AND ITS RISK FACTORS IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES.

Background: Diabetes is one of the most common metabolic diseases. The prevalence of diabetes is 4.5-6% in Iran and 14.2% in over 30 years old residences of Yazd. Microalbuminuria is diagnosable before nephropathy is developed and could be detected at an early stage when effective therapy can still be carried out. In this stage near normalization of blood glucose, strict blood pressure control and administration of ACE inhibitors can prevent nephropathic complications. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation among microalbuminuria and age, duration of diabetes, body mass Index, serum triglyceride, serum cholesterol and blood pressure in type 2 diabetic patients attending Yazd diabetes research center. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out from November 2002 to July 2003 to investigate the correlation between microalbuminuria and its risk factors. 288 type 2 diabetic patients (141 males and 147 females) were examined through consecutive sampling. Results : Overall prevalence of microalbuminuria was 14.2%. Chi-square analysis revealed microalbuminuria was associated with diastolic blood pressure (P-value=0.003) and duration of diabetes (P-value =   0.001). No statistically significant correlation was found between microalbuminuria and body mass index, serum triglyceride, serum cholesterol and systolic blood pressure. Conclusion: Determination of urine albumin to creatinin ratio is an easy method for screening microalbuminuria which is suggested for all diabetic patients especially diabetic patients with hypertension and a long term history of diabetes.