This study examined the differences in factors associated with albuminuria according to gender and comorbidities of hypertension (HTN) and diabetes mellitus (DM).

We included 3,859 participants aged 20 to 79 years (55% female) from the 5th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants were excluded if they took antihypertensive or anti-diabetic medication, had chronic renal failure, had malignant tumor, were pregnant or menstruating during the health examination, or had missing urine albumin data. Albuminuria was defined by the participant's urine albumin-creatinine ratio (uACR). Relationships between dependent and independent variables were analyzed using the Pearson's correlation test and simple linear regression. Due to possible muticollinearity, multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine whether the association between the dependent and independent variables of interest remained significant after adjustment for other potentially confounding independent variables.

The variables significantly correlated with uACR were different between the genders and between subjects with HTN or DM as a comorbidity. In the multiple linear regression models, hemoglobin A1c (P=0.01) was positively associated with uACR in men without HTN and DM. In men with HTN or DM, systolic blood pressure and fasting glucose (P<0.01) were positively associated with uACR. In women with HTN or DM, waist circumference (P=0.011) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (P<0.001) were positively correlated with uACR (P<0.05) and glucose level (P=0.019) was negatively correlated with uACR.

The study suggested factors correlated with albuminuria were different for men and women according to comorbidities such as HTN and DM.