Microalbuminuria is common in Japanese type 2 diabetic patients: a nationwide survey from the Japan Diabetes Clinical Data Management Study Group (JDDM 10).

P revious studies have reported a marked variation in the prevalence of microalbuminuria in type 2 diabetic patients ranging from 7 to 47% (1– 13). The variation could arise from ethnic/genetic differences in susceptibility (3–11) and from methodological issues for investigating the prevalence, such as small-sized populations (3,12,13); single clinic–based studies (8,12); use of the dipstick method instead of quantitative determinations (4,5); or only a single measurement of urinary albumin excretion (UAE) (3–13), whereas multiple measurements have been recommended for years (14). In terms of investigating the prevalence of microalbuminuria in type 2 diabetic patients, we performed this study with the aim of investigating patients with a specific ethnicity (i.e., Japanese). The study had a large-sized population, a nationwide multicenter-based design, and a high proportion of data availability for clinical variables and for multiple measurements of UAE.