Association of Single Measurement of dipstick proteinuria with physical performance of military males: the CHIEF study

Proteinuria, a marker of kidney injury, may be related to skeletal muscle loss. Whether the severity of proteinuria is associated with physical performance is unclear. We examined the association of proteinuria severity with physical performance cross-sectionally in 3357 military young males, free of chronic kidney disease, from the cardiorespiratory fitness and hospitalization events in armed Forces (CHIEF) study in Taiwan. The grades of proteinuria were classified according to one dipstick urinalysis which were collected at morning after an 8-h fast as unremarkable (0, +/−, and 1+), moderate (2+) and severe (3+ and 4+). Aerobic physical performance was evaluated by time for a 3000-m run and anaerobic physical performance was evaluated by numbers of 2-min sit-ups and 2-min push-ups, separately. Multiple linear regressions were used to determine the relationship. As compared with unremarkable proteinuria, moderate and severe proteinuria were dose-dependently correlated with 3000-m running time (β: 4.74 (95% confidence intervals (CI): − 0.55, 10.02) and 7.63 (95% CI: 3.21, 12.05), respectively), and inversely with numbers of 2-min push-ups (β = − 1.13 (− 1.97, − 0.29), and − 1.00 (− 1.71, − 0.28), respectively) with adjustments for age, service specialty, body mass index, blood pressure, alcohol intake, smoking, fasting plasma glucose, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine and physical activity. However, there was no association between proteinuria severity and 2-min sit-ups. Our findings show a relationship of dipstick proteinuria with aerobic physical performance and parts of anaerobic physical performance in military healthy males. This mechanism is not fully understood and requires further investigations.