Prevalence of microalbuminuria in type 2 diabetic patients in Karachi: Pakistan: a multi-center study.

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of microalbuminuria and its associations in type-2 diabetic subjects attending diabetes centers/clinics across Karachi, Pakistan. METHODS Two thousand one hundred subjects with type-2 diabetes were screened for microalbuminuria using Micral test strip II. A single screening test was performed in 25 diabetes centers/units in different districts of Karachi from January 2003 to December 2003. RESULTS The overall prevalence of microalbuminuria was 34%. Mean age of subjects was 53.1 years +/- 11.9 years, mean BMI was 25.8 +/- 4.1 and mean duration of diabetes was 8.8 +/- 5.21 years. Fifty seven percent were males and 43% females. Sixty two percent of the subjects had a systolic blood pressure > or = 130 mmHg. Forty five percent had a family history of diabetes and 5% had a family history of hypertension. Univariate analyses demonstrated significant associations between microalbuminuria and age, duration of diabetes, male gender, smoking status, microvascular and macrovascular complications, hypertension, high triglycerides, high serum LDL, low serum HDL, and high fasting and random blood sugars. When adjusted for the effects of other variables in the model, age, diastolic blood pressure, serum LDL and retinopathy were found to be significantly associated with microalbuminuria. CONCLUSION The prevalence of microalbuminuria in type 2 diabetic subjects in this cross-sectional multicentre study across Karachi was 34% and this was significantly related to age, diastolic blood pressure, serum LDL and retinopathy.