Prevalence of Microalbuminuria in the Diabetic Clinic

The predictive value of microalbuminuria has been established in insulin-dependent diabetic (IDD) patients for the occurrence of diabetic nephropathy [1–4] and in non-insulin-dependent diabetic (NIDD) patients for an excessive risk of mortality, mainly of cardiovascular origin [5]. However, these pilot-studies dealt with a limited number of patients selected in clinics highly involved in the field of diabetic nephropathy. As these data suggested that many diabetic patients should be regularly screened for microalbuminuria, it was wise to evaluate the prevalence of microalbuminuria in diabetic clinics and to ascertain which patients’ characteristics were related to microalbuminuria. The first step was to determine how to screen for microalbuminuria.