Diagnosing microalbuminuria and consequences for the drug treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes: a European survey in primary care.

Aims: To assess general practitioners (GPs) knowledge of guideline recommendations on diagnosing microalbuminuria (MA) and to evaluate how this diagnosis influences drug treatment of diabetes patients.

Methods: A postal case-history based questionnaire describing a male patient (previously not tested for MA) with type 2 diabetes who had several risk markers for cardiovascular disease.

Results: 2078GPs from nine European countries were included, with response rates varying from 7% to 43%.

Postanalytical external quality assessment of urine albumin in primary health care: an international survey.

Background: Microalbuminuria (MA) is recognized as an important risk factor for cardiovascular and renal complications in diabetes. We sought to evaluate how screening for MA is conducted and how urine albumin (UA) results are interpreted in primary care internationally.

Methods: General practitioners (GPs) received a case history-based questionnaire depicting a male type 2 diabetes patient in whom UA testing had not been performed.