Table 2. Characteristics of the Study Population according to the Urinary Albumin to Creatinine Ratio.
| Characteristic | Optimal (≤5.0 mg/g) | Intermediate normal (5.1–9.9 mg/g) | High normal (10.0–29.9 mg/g) | Microalbuminuria (30.0–299.9 mg/g) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | 1,261 | 515 | 370 | 170 | |
| Age, yr | 58.72±0.26 | 61.85±0.43a | 62.04±0.56a | 64.11±0.95a | <0.001 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 23.71±0.10 | 23.97±0.16 | 24.32±0.23a | 24.41±0.29a | 0.019 |
| WC, cm | 79.67±0.34 | 80.91±0.47 | 81.54±0.65a | 82.72±0.92a | 0.002 |
| SBP, mm Hg | 118.45±0.54 | 124.45±0.81a | 128.42±1.36a,b | 135.24±1.75a,b,c | <0.001 |
| DBP, mm Hg | 74.79±0.31 | 76.75±0.54a | 77.84±0.68a | 81.13±1.02a,b,c | <0.001 |
| FPG, mg/dL | 92.73±0.32 | 94.36±0.47a | 96.05±0.68a,b | 96.96±0.85a,b | <0.001 |
| HbA1c, % | 5.68±0.01 | 5.73±0.01 | 5.77±0.20a | 5.75±0.03 | <0.001 |
| TC, mg/dL | 207.08±1.16 | 208.37±1.65 | 206.80±2.22 | 208.29±3.46 | 0.903 |
| TG, mg/dL | 123.93±2.53 | 131.75±4.19 | 136.34±6.91 | 158.09±11.07a | 0.009 |
| LDL-C, mg/dL | 127.65±1.03 | 128.61±1.49 | 126.83±2.15 | 124.55±2.88 | 0.652 |
| HDL-C, mg/dL | 54.64±0.46 | 53.40±0.65 | 52.70±0.73 | 52.12±0.98a | 0.033 |
| Serum Cr, mg/dL | 0.72±0.00 | 0.71±0.00 | 0.71±0.00 | 0.72±0.01 | 0.576 |
| Smoking, % | 0.165 | ||||
| None | 93.2 | 93.6 | 92.4 | 94.2 | |
| Ex-smoking | 2.0 | 3.6 | 2.2 | 4.4 | |
| Current | 4.8 | 2.8 | 5.4 | 1.3 | |
| Alcohol drinking, % | 0.031 | ||||
| None | 41.7 | 50.6a | 51.5a | 46.9 | |
| ≤1/week | 52.3 | 42.8a | 42.8a | 42.6 | |
| 2–3/weeks | 4.1 | 4.4a | 3.7a | 9.0 | |
| ≥4/weeks | 1.9 | 2.2a | 2.0a | 1.6 | |
| Family income, %d | <0.001 | ||||
| <100 | 18.4 | 27.0a | 33.2a,b | 28.7a,c | |
| 100–199 | 17.9 | 20.1a | 13.6a,b | 22.4a,c | |
| 200–299 | 16.1 | 14.8a | 19.4a,b | 13.7a,c | |
| ≥300 | 47.6 | 38.1a | 33.8a,b | 35.2a,c | |
| Less than high school education, % | 61.0 | 74.0a | 79.0a | 75.9a | <0.001 |
| Residence in urban area, % | 65.2 | 64.3 | 64.3 | 61.3 | 0.876 |
| Regular exercise, yes, %e | 7.7 | 5.9 | 4.9 | 6.7 | 0.369 |
| HTN history, % | 18.5 | 31.7a | 37.2a | 43.4a,b | <0.001 |
| Age at menarche, yr | 15.76±0.06 | 15.91±0.11 | 16.14±0.14a | 16.25±0.16a | 0.011 |
| Age at menopause, yr | 50.22±0.10 | 50.01±0.21 | 50.23±0.28 | 49.76±0.41 | 0.566 |
| Lactation, ever, % | 85.4 | 90.9a | 90.7a | 91.4a | 0.021 |
| OC, ever, % | 18.2 | 20.1 | 21.6 | 26.3 | 0.144 |
| eGFR, mL/min/1.73 m2 | 84.35±0.47 | 85.15±0.86 | 84.91±1.02 | 84.12±1.68 | 0.837 |
| UACR | 2.24±0.05 | 6.96±0.07a | 16.36±0.35a,b | 79.24±5.6a,b,c | <0.001 |
| Log UACRf | 0.40±0.04 | 1.92±0.01a | 2.74±0.02a,b | 4.17±0.05a,b,c | <0.001 |
| FRS | 12.69±0.12 | 14.30±0.19a | 14.62±0.26a | 15.86±0.36a,b,c | <0.001 |
| 10-Year risk of CVD, % | <0.001 | ||||
| <10% | 96.1 | 91.6a | 88.8a | 82.6a,b,c | |
| 10–19% | 3.1 | 7.8a | 10.0a | 16.4a,b,c | |
| ≥20.0% | 0.8 | 0.6a | 1.1a | 1.0a,b,c |
Values are expressed as mean±SD.
BMI, body mass index; WC, waist circumference; SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; FPG, fasting plasma glucose; HbA1c, glycated hemoglobin; TC, total cholesterol; TG, triglyceride; LDL-C, low density lipoprotein cholesterol; HDL-C, high density lipoprotein cholesterol; Cr, creatinine; HTN, hypertension; OC, oral contraceptive; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; UACR, urinary albumin to creatinine ratio; FRS, Framingham Risk Score; CVD, cardiovascular disease.
aP<0.05 for optimal vs. intermediate normal, optimal vs. high normal, and optimal vs. microalbuminuria; bP<0.05 for intermediate normal vs. high normal and intermediate normal vs. microalbuminuria; cP<0.05 for high normal vs. microalbuminuria; dUnit is 10,000 Korean won/month; eRegular exercise is indicated as 'yes' when the subject performs moderate exercise on a regular basis (more than 30 minutes at a time and more than five times per week); fUACR was logarithmically transformed for analysis to ensure a normal distribution.