OR28-3 Ethnic Differences in Albuminuria among Adults with Diabetes and Normal Range Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR).
Authors: Arzumanyan Hasmik , Darbinian Jeanne , Lo Joan , Zheng Sijie , Nwosu Uchenna 
Published: November 2022

Background

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) develops in approximately 40% of adults with diabetes and is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Less is known about early DKD, particularly in ethnically diverse populations that include Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and Asian Americans. Current guidelines recommend that patients with diabetes be screened annually for DKD. Albuminuria is the first sign of CKD and is associated with CKD progression, cardiovascular events, and death. This study characterizes ethnic differences in the prevalence of albuminuria in a diverse population of adults with diabetes with normal range eGFR.

Methods

This retrospective study was conducted in a large healthcare system where patients with diabetes are annually monitored for DKD. We identified adults with diabetes aged 45-74 years, eGFR ≥60 mL/min/m2 based on serum creatinine (using the CKD-EPI equation without race), and assessment of urine albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR), urine protein-creatinine ratio (PCR) and/or urine protein dipstick in 2015. Albuminuria was based on urine ACR (95%), otherwise, from urine PCR (1%) converted to ACR, and, if unavailable, from urine protein dipstick (4%) converted to ACR. The cohort was restricted to patients with diabetes onset after health plan enrollment to calculate diabetes duration. Hypertension was identified by clinical diagnosis. Modified Poisson regression with robust variance was used to examine the association of ethnicity and albuminuria, reporting relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results

Among 79,184 adults with diabetes, eGFR ≥60, and urine albumin/protein assessment (age 60.5 ±7.7y, 54.0% male), 40.3% were non-Hispanic White, 9.6% Black, 26.3% Asian/Pacific Islander (PI), and 21.0% Hispanic/Latinx race/ethnicity. 69.9% had hypertension. Overall, 81.7%, 13.8%, and 4.6% had urine ACR &lt;30 (normal), 30 to &lt;300 (microalbuminuria), and ≥300 mg/g (macroalbuminuria), respectively, with albuminuria higher in males than females. By race/ethnicity, the prevalence of [micro/macroalbuminuria] was [15.7/5.4%] Asian/PI, [13.8/4.8%] Black, [13.1/4.5%] Hispanic/Latinx, and [12.8/4.1%] non-Hispanic Whites. Among Asian/PIs, prevalence ranged from [19.5/8.4%] Hawaiian/PI and [18.2/7.1%] Filipino to [14.5/3.6%] Chinese and [11.2/3.4%] South Asian. In multivariable analyses, adjusting for age, sex, diabetes duration, and hypertension, Asian/PI (RR 1.3, CI 1.2-1.3) was associated with higher risk of albuminuria compared to non-Hispanic White, but Black (RR 1.0) and Hispanic/Latinx (RR 1.0) were not. Among Asian/PIs, with Chinese as reference, Filipino (RR 1.3, CI 1.2-1.4) and Hawaiian/PI (RR 1.4, CI 1.3-1.6) had higher risk, South Asian had lower risk (RR 0.7, CI 0.7-0.8), and Japanese and Southeast Asian had similar risk of albuminuria.

Conclusions

The risk of albuminuria in adults with diabetes and normal range eGFR was higher in Asian/PI adults. Among Asian/PIs, the risk was higher among Filipino and Hawaiian/PI and lower in South Asian compared to Chinese adults, supporting the importance of disaggregating Asians when examining microvascular outcomes. Future studies should examine ACEI/ARB use and albuminuria progression.

Presentation: Tuesday, June 14, 2022 10:15 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.