Microalbuminuria and metabolic risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes in primary care setting in Thailand

Objective: To determine the prevalence of microalbuminuria and associated risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes in primary care. Methods: Clinical information of diabetic patients in 70 primary care units in Thailand was collected in a cross-sectional survey. Multinomial logistic regression model was used to examine several clinical risk factors with microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria. Results: A total of 4162 patients were included. The prevalence of microalbuminuria was 39.12% and macroalbumninuria was 7.83%. The proportion of patients with HbA1c < 7% was 37.9%. Independent risk factors for microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria included HbA1c (adjusted OR 1.54, 95%CI 1.30-1.83 and 2.06, 95%CI 1.49-2.84 per unit increase in HbA1c, respectively), triglyceride ≥1.7 mmol/L (1.31, 1.11-1.56 and 1.44, 1.06-1.98), hypertension (1.31, 1.10-1.54 and 1.64, 1.23-2.20), and duration of diabetes ≥5 years (1.31, 1.11-1.55 and 2.39, 1.74-3.28). Metabolic syndrome was associated with macroalbuminuria (OR 1.36, 95%CI 1.01-1.84). Conclusion: The high prevalence of microabuminuria and suboptimal glycemic control for the diabetic patients were found to highlight the need to improve in control of glycemia and metabolic risk factors.