Comparison of Urine Albumin-to-Creatinine Ratio (ACR) Between ACR Strip Test and Quantitative Test in Prediabetes and Diabetes.
- Author:
Eun Hee NAH
1
;
Seon CHO
;
Suyoung KIM
;
Han Ik CHO
Author Information
- Publication Type:Comparative Study ; Original Article
- Keywords: Albuminuria; Albumin-to-creatinine ratio; Prediabetes; Diabetes; Strip test
- MeSH: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Albumins/*analysis; Creatinine/*urine; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/pathology/urine; Female; Humans; *Immunoassay; Male; Middle Aged; Prediabetic State/pathology/urine; Reagent Strips/chemistry
- From:Annals of Laboratory Medicine 2017;37(1):28-33
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: BACKGROUND: Albuminuria is generally known as a sensitive marker of renal and cardiovascular dysfunction. It can be used to help predict the occurrence of nephropathy and cardiovascular disorders in diabetes. Individuals with prediabetes have a tendency to develop macrovascular and microvascular pathology, resulting in an increased risk of retinopathy, cardiovascular diseases, and chronic renal diseases. We evaluated the clinical value of a strip test for measuring the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) in prediabetes and diabetes. METHODS: Spot urine samples were obtained from 226 prediabetic and 275 diabetic subjects during regular health checkups. Urinary ACR was measured by using strip and laboratory quantitative tests. RESULTS: The positive rates of albuminuria measured by using the ACR strip test were 15.5% (microalbuminuria, 14.6%; macroalbuminuria, 0.9%) and 30.5% (microalbuminuria, 25.1%; macroalbuminuria, 5.5%) in prediabetes and diabetes, respectively. In the prediabetic population, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and overall accuracy of the ACR strip method were 92.0%, 94.0%, 65.7%, 99.0%, and 93.8%, respectively; the corresponding values in the diabetic population were 80.0%, 91.6%, 81.0%, 91.1%, and 88.0%, respectively. The median [interquartile range] ACR values in the strip tests for measurement ranges of <30, 30-300, and >300 mg/g were 9.4 [6.3-15.4], 46.9 [26.5-87.7], and 368.8 [296.2-575.2] mg/g, respectively, using the laboratory method. CONCLUSIONS: The ACR strip test showed high sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value, suggesting that the test can be used to screen for albuminuria in cases of prediabetes and diabetes.