[Albumin-to-creatinine ratio as a diagnostic tool for type 2 diabetic nephropathy].
BACKGROUND
Given the low effectiveness of 24 hours determination of urinary albumin excretion (UAE) for the diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy in primary care, we aimed at evaluating the albumin: creatinine ratio (ACR) in the first voided morning urine sample as a diagnostic tool in this setting.


METHODS
214 patients with type 2 diabetes were studied. ACR and UAE were compared with correlation and lineal regression analyses. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to determine the discriminatory value for diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy.


RESULTS
The correlation coefficient between ACR and UAE was 0.93 (p<0.01) and the ROC curve analysis showed a value of 2.4 g/mol for women and 1.4 g/mol for men.


CONCLUSIONS
ROC curve analysis reveals that ACR is a useful method for diagnosing diabetic nephropathy, although the discriminatory value depends on sex.
Mundet Tudurí
X
X
Centro de Atención Primaria Universitario El Carmel. Unidad Docente de MFyC Barcelona Ciutat.
Martínez Carmona
S
S
Espinosa González
N
N
López Rodway
C
C
Carrera Font
T
T
Romea Lecumberri
S
S
Gimbert Ràfols
R
R
Martí Montesa
J
J
D000368:Aged; D000419:Albuminuria / Q000209:etiology*; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications / Q000652:urine*; D003928:Diabetic Nephropathies / Q000150:complications / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D003404:Creatinine