Relationship Between Microalbuminuria and Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Diseases Among Secondary School Student in Ilorin, Nigeria

Introduction: Globally, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading causes of deaths with more than half due to coronary heart disease linked with the development of atherosclerosis. Hypertension (HTN) and obesity are leading risk factors for atherosclerotic CVDs, presence of which is predicted by microalbuminuria (MA). We wanted to evaluate the relationship between microalbuminuria and risk factors for CVDs (obesity, overweight, pre-hypertension and hypertension) among secondary school students in Ilorin, North central Nigeria.  Methods: We conducted a descriptive, cross-sectional study from December 2017 to March 2018 among secondary school students. We recruited 584 students, aged 10 to 18 years from 14 schools across the three Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Ilorin. We measured their blood pressure and anthropometrics following standard protocols and determined microalbuminuria in their early morning urine using Microalbumin 2-1 Combo strip and spot urinary albumin - creatinine ratio. Results: The prevalence of MA was 30.1%. MA was more common in obese and hypertensive adolescents (p < 0.001 and p < 0.01 respectively). Occurrence of MA correlated strongly with subject’s weight (r = 0.790, p = 0.004, p < 0.01); systolic blood pressure (r = 0.884, p = 0.001, p < 0.01) and body mass index (r = 0.710, p = 0.001, p < 0.01). Independent predictors of MA were obesity, adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 4.9, (95% CI 1.124, 20.913), overweight (aOR 3.6, 95% CI 1.184, 10.174), older age (aOR 1.1, 95% CI 1.007, 1.219) and presence of systolic hypertension (aOR 3.1, 95% CI 1.903, 5.042). Conclusions: This study shows a high prevalence of MA among the adolescents. CVDs risk factors predictive of MA are overweight, obesity, systolic hypertension and older age.