Monitoring the frequency of microalbuminuria in treatment-naïve hypertensives in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Andhra Pradesh, India.

Background: Hypertension is a serious public health issue in the general population, with a considerable proportion of cases inadequately being treated. Methods: This hospital-based prospective study was carried out at our tertiary care teaching hospital between November 2019 and November 2021. One hundred patients who were recently diagnosed to have hypertension were studied. Results: The age of the subjects ranged from 31 to 78 years with a mean age of 49 years. Of these, 40% were in the 40-49 years' age group; there were 68 males. The body mass index (BMI, Kg/m2) distribution of the study subjects showed 22% with normal weight, 62% in overweight and 16% in obese category. Microalbuminuria was evident in 28% of newly diagnosed hypertensives. The sex-wise distribution of microalbuminuria revealed that 17 of 68 males (25%) and 11 of 32 females (34.4%) had microalbuminuria. Conclusions: The chronicity of hypertension, age and BMI were the main factors determining microalbuminuria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]