Microalbuminuria among Patients with Diabetes Mellitus Visiting the Department of Nephrology in a Tertiary Care Centre: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: Microalbuminuria is an abnormal increase in albumin excretion rate with a specific range of 30-299 mg of albumin/g of creatinine or excretion of 20-200 mg/l of albumin in spot urine samples. Diabetic patients with microalbuminuria are at increased risk for cardiovascular death as compared with normoalbuminuria. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of microalbuminuria among patients visiting the Department of Nephrology in a tertiary care centre. METHOD: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among diabetic patients visiting the Department of Nephrology in a tertiary care centre after obtaining ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 04072022/04). The study was conducted between 1 October 2022 to 30 November 2022 where patients providing written consent and had documented diabetes were included in the study whereas patients without documented diabetes, having comorbidities such as congestive heart failure, nephritic/nephrotic syndrome and those who refused to give consent were excluded from the study. Convenience sampling was done. Point estimate and 95% Confidence Interval were calculated. RESULTS: Among 103 patients, microalbuminuria was found to be in 19 (18.45%) (10.96-25.94, 95% Confidence Interval). Out of 19 patients, 8 (42.11%) were male and 11 (57.89%) were female. The mean HbA1c among participants with microalbuminuria was 7.67±0.67%. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of microalbuminuria among diabetic patients was similar to other studies done in similar settings.