Microalbuminuria as predictor of increased mortality in elderly people.

OBJECTIVE: Correlation of the urinary albumin excretion rate and the risk of death among elderly subjects. DESIGN: 216 Subjects aged 60-74 whose urinary albumin excretion rate had been determined were followed up 62-83 months later. SETTING: Municipality of Fredericia, Denmark. SUBJECTS: 223 People who had been selected as control subjects for diabetics found during a systematic screening for diabetes of all people aged 60-74 living in the municipality of Fredericia, Denmark. Of these subjects, 216 had an extensive clinical and biochemical examination within a few weeks of selection. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Death. RESULTS: The median urinary albumin excretion rate was 7.52 micrograms/min. Eight of those with a rate below the median died compared with 23 with a rate equal to or greater than the median (p = 0.0078). The median albumin excretion rate in the 31 who died was 15.00 micrograms/min. Cardiovascular disease was the most common cause of death in both groups. A multivariate regression analysis of survival data was performed using the proportional hazards model. Besides albumin excretion rate, male sex, serum creatinine concentration, and hypertension were found to be of prognostic value. CONCLUSIONS: The association between the albumin excretion rate and mortality that has been described in recent years in patients with diabetes mellitus may be present in elderly people in general, even when other known risk factors are taken into account.