Frequency of Testing for Albuminuria Is Low in Clinical Practice

Are You Aware? Quick Facts About Kidney Disease

Frequency of Testing for Albuminuria Is Low in Clinical Practice

Diabetes and hypertension, also called high blood pressure, are key risk factors for cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease in turn increases the risk for cardiovascular disease and early death from heart failure, heart attacks, and stroke. Testing for chronic kidney disease requires both a blood test for serum creatinine to estimate kidney function and a urine test for albuminuria, which is protein in the urine, to look for evidence of kidney damage. Albuminuria is a risk factor for both chronic kidney disease progression and cardiovascular disease.

Annual testing for albuminuria is simple, reliable, accessible, and recommended for people with diabetes or hypertension. However, urine testing in these patients in clinical practice is low. In the Veterans Affairs health system, about 40%–50% of adults with diabetes and about 10%–30% of adults with hypertension were tested for albuminuria in 2018. Increased awareness that diabetes and hypertension are risk factors for kidney disease and that albuminuria is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease is important to improve testing for albuminuria in populations at risk for both cardiovascular and kidney diseases.