Abstract
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the most common cause of end stage renal disease (ESRD) and it accounts for one third of all patients requiring renal replacement therapy in Africa. Diabetic patients with microalbuminuria (MA) have an increased risk of progression to macroalbuminuria and later to ESRD. So detecting MA which is a marker of DN helps to alert the clinician to intervene at a time when future renal damage is still preventable. The main goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of MA in diabetic patients at the Bamenda Regional Hospital. This study was a prospective cross sectional study involving diabetic patients at the Bamenda Regional Hospital. A random (spot) or first morning urine specimen was collected and MA was measured by a semi quantitative dipstick method using the URS-14H urine test strips. The prevalence of MA in the present study was 34.6%, which is high but similar to the results of other studies done in sub-Saharan Africa. Although MA was more common (50%) in individuals with diabetes more than 16 years, a high proportion (42.85%) of patients with MA had a duration of diabetes of ≤ 5years. There was no significant difference in the occurrence of MA with respect to age, gender and duration of diabetes. This study showed a high prevalence of MA in the diabetic population presenting at the Bamenda Regional Hospital. Consequently, measures of glycemic control should be enhanced in this population to prevent the progression to macroalbuminuria and ESRD.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by chronic hyperglycemia with disturbances of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism resulting from defects in insulin secretion, action or both [1]
Renal disorder is a common complication in diabetic patients and urinary microalbumin level is an important marker of chronic kidney disease and end stage renal disease (ESRD)
Nephropathy has been viewed as a descending path of normoalbuminuria (NA) to end stage renal disease (ESRD) through an intermediate stage marked by microalbuminuria [2]
Summary
Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by chronic hyperglycemia with disturbances of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism resulting from defects in insulin secretion, action or both [1]. Renal disorder is a common complication in diabetic patients and urinary microalbumin level is an important marker of chronic kidney disease and end stage renal disease (ESRD). Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the main cause of morbidity and premature mortality in diabetic patients [3, 4]. This complication is first manifested as microalbuminuria (MA). Diabetic patients with MA have an increased risk of progression to overt proteinuria and after sometime, renal failure [5, 6]. 80% of type 1 diabetic patients with persistent MA develop overt nephropathy after 10-
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