Abstract:

Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus has been described as a steadily growing epidemic. The world health organization (WHO) predicts the number of diabetics to be around 300 million worldwide by 2025. In sub-Saharan Africa, the chronic complications of diabetes, including nephropathy, carry a higher morbidity than elsewhere, mainly due to limited healthcare resources. Additionally, renal dysfunction, in context of diabetes, has not been adequately studied.

Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study conducted at the medical out-patient clinic (Medical OPD) at Bugando Medical Centre (BMC) for October 2011 to March 2012. A total of 368 adult diabetics were recruited into the study. The primary study end-point was the prevalence of renal dysfunction among adults with diabetes mellitus attending the Medical OPD. The secondary end-point was predictors of renal dysfunction.

Results: There was almost equal balance within the study population (46.6% males versus 53.4% female). 93.8% of the study population had type 2 diabetes mellitus. The prevalence of renal dysfunction was found to be 89.8% (based on the prevalence of microalbuminuria) while 21% of the study population presented with CKD stage 3 or more (renal insufficiency). Older age was found to be a strong predictor of renal dysfunction in this study population by multivariate analysis (p=0.04, Odds Ratio 1.03, 95% Confidence Interval 1.00 – 1.06).

Conclusion: There is high prevalence of renal dysfunction among adult diabetic out-patients at Bugando Medical Centre compared to results from other studies. Older is a strong predictor for renal dysfunction in this study population.