Evaluation of Common Risk Factors of Diabetic Nephropathy among Diabetic Adults

Background: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a specific micro vascular complication of diabetes mellitus (DM), approximately one third of affected diabetic patients eventually develop DN. The level of albuminuria is highly correlated with the intraglomerular pressure which is the key determinant of DN. A number of risk factors were suggested for the development of DN. Objective: To evaluate the common risk factors of diabetic nephropathy and to determine the association of different risk factors with diabetic nephropathy among adult diabetic patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Nephrology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh. A total of one hundred twenty-eight (128) adult diabetic patients were enrolled. We identified nephropathy among them by doing albumin creatinine ratio (ACR) on spot urine and carried out relevant laboratory investigations. Common risk factors of diabetic nephropathy like- hypertension (HTN), overweight/obesity, family history of HTN/DM/DN, duration of DM, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) and dyslipidemia were evaluated accordingly. Result: Among 128 study population, 52 (40.6%) patients were found to have diabetic nephropathy. Of them, 27.3% had microalbuminuria, 13.3% had macroalbuminuria. Hypertension, overweight/obesity, family history of HTN/DM and dyslipidemia were observed to be significantly higher in nephropathy group than those in the non-nephropathy group (p<0.05). Hypertension, dyslipidemia and duration of diabetes mellitus were the independent predictors for diabetic nephropathy. Conclusion: The prevalence of diabetic nephropathy is high (40.6%) among diabetic adults. Several risk factors are significantly associated with diabetic nephropathy. Hypertension, dyslipidemia and duration of diabetes mellitus are the independent predictors for diabetic nephropathy.