Diabetic renal disease in central Africa

Six hundred African diabetic patients were examined using a protocol based on the WHO Multinational study in which no country from Africa was represented. The salicylsulphonic acid test for proteinuria was used to assess the presence of diabetic renal disease. Overall 23.8% of patients had proteinuria (95% confidence interval 20.4 to 27.2) and 3.8% chronic renal failure (95% confidence interval 2.3 to 5.3). Patients with proteinuria were older and had had diabetes longer than those without (p less than 0.001). Systolic blood pressure rose with increasing proteinuria in both sexes but only men with severe nephropathy showed an increase in diastolic pressure. Minimal diabetic nephropathy was more common than severe nephropathy which carried a particularly poor prognosis in African diabetic patients due to lack of resources.