Prevalence and pattern of urinary abnormalities among apparently healthy adult Nigerians

Background: Urinalysis is a simple and cheap method of screening for systemic diseases including kidney disease and may open a window of opportunity for prevention/early treatments especially in resource-constrained settings like Nigeria. We therefore studied the pattern of urinary abnormalities among an apparently healthy urban population. Methods: Mid-stream clean catch urine samples were collected from 1048 apparently healthy subjects and tested for urinary abnormalities using the dipstick method following a health promotional talk in Idi-araba, a Lagos slum. Results: A total of 1048 randomly selected subjects with a mean age of 38.7 ΁ 14.5 years (age range 18-85 years) were screened. This consisted of 597 (57%) females and 451 (43%) males. Protenuria, hematuria, leucocyturia, nitrituria, and glucosuria were present in 18.9%, 1.7%, 9.2%, 1.8% and 2% of the subjects respectively. Proteinuria and haematuria was more prevalent in subjects aged ≥40 years (P < 0.05). The prevalence of leucocyturia, nitrituria, and glucosuria were independent of age (P < 0.05). There were no gender differences in the prevalence of urinary abnormalities (P < 0.05). Four hundred and forty-four (42.3%) of the cohort had hypertension (HTN). Proteinuria and leucocyturia were more prevalent in hypertensive subjects (P < 0.05) while hematuria, nitrituria, and glucosuria was independent of hypertensive status of subjects (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Urinary abnormalities are common among apparently healthy adults in Lagos. It is therefore recommended that it should be routinely done as a cheap screening tool and further evaluation conducted where necessary. This may result in cheaper treatment and better outcomes.