The Effectiveness of the Semi-quantitative Assessment of Microalbuminuria Using Routine Urine Dipstick Screening in Patients with Diabetes

OBJECTIVE: The early diagnosis and treatment of microalbuminuria is important for preventing the progression of diabetic kidney disease in patients with diabetes. In this study, we assessed the accuracy of the semi-quantitative measurement of microalbuminuria by urine dipstick screening in patients with diabetes. METHODS: The semi-quantitative urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (QUACR) was used for microalbuminuria screening. A total of 291 diabetes patients with normoalbuminuria [urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) <30 mg/g・Cre; n=205] or microalbuminuria (UACR 30-299 mg/g・Cre; n=86) were enrolled as study participants. Both the qualitative test of albumin (QUA) and the QUACR of early-morning or spot urine samples were performed at the same time. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to compare the diagnostic utility of the QUACR to that of the QUA in the detection of microalbuminuria. RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity values of the QUACR were 84.9% and 76.6%, respectively. Those of the QUA were 53.5% and 84.4%, respectively. In the ROC analysis, the area under the curve values of the QUACR and QUA for the diagnosis of microalbuminuria were 0.807 (95% confidence interval: 0.752-0.863) and 0.689 (0.618-0.760), respectively. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the QUACR is a simple and efficient test-with high levels of sensitivity and specificity-for the detection of microalbuminuria in patients with diabetes.