Association between Systolic Blood Pressure and Albuminuria in Elderly People without Type 2 Diabetes or Chronic Kidney Disease

Background: Albuminuria is associated with cardiovascular disease, and the relationship between albuminuria and hypertension is well established. Systolic blood pressure (SBP, mmHg) has become more important than diastolic blood pressure as an independent risk predictor for cardiovascular events in the elderly. Thus, we examined the relationship between albuminuria and SBP in a general Korean population without type 2 diabetes or chronic kidney disease. Methods: We analyzed data from the 2011–2013 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and included 2,265 participants. SBP was divided into five groups as follows: ≥150 mmHg, 140–149 mmHg, 130–139 mmHg, 120–129 mmHg, and <120 mmHg. Albuminuria was defined as microalbuminuria and/or macroalbuminuria. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) for albuminuria. Results: The proportion of albuminuria decreased with decreasing SBP, from 18.2% in the group with highest SBP to 4.0% in the group with lowest SBP. After adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, and levels of fasting plasma glucose, triglyceride, and alanine transaminase, the ORs (95% confidence intervals [CI]) for albuminuria according to each of the five groups of SBP were 1.00, 0.538 (95% CI 0.305–0.949), 0.603 (95% CI 0.368–0.991), 0.365 (95% CI 0.219–0.607), and 0.228 (95% CI 0.137–0.378), respectively. Conclusion: Higher SBP was independently associated with an increased risk of albuminuria in the elderly without diabetes mellitus or chronic kidney disease.