Urinary Albumin to Creatinine Ratio to Predict Diabetic Retinopathy: The Eyes Have It!

Introduction The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has provided a push in the search for alternative screening methods to replace annual fundoscopic examination of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) to detect diabetic retinopathy (DR). Materials and methods This retrospective study was conducted using the data of T2DM patients from their routine follow-up hospital visits. The details from their history and physical examination were extracted. As part of their routine follow-up visit, they had undergone a panel of investigations that included blood glucose measurements and urinary albumin excretion measurements. Univariate and logistic multivariate regression analyses were applied to identify the potential clinical and laboratory parameters associated with the presence of DR in them. Results Analysis of the medical records of 272 T2DM patients revealed that 147 patients had DR while 125 did not. Furthermore, 135 had non-proliferative DR (64 mild, 53 moderate, and 18 severe grades), whereas the remaining 12 had proliferative DR. On sequential univariate and multiple regression analysis, urinary albumin creatinine ratio (UACR), known duration of T2DM, and history of ischemic heart disease were seen to be independently associated with the presence of DR. Median UACR for those without DR was 42.6 mg/g (range 18.21-183.3 mg/g) while for those with retinopathy it was 214 mg/g (range 45.4-1260 mg/g) (p<0.001). The receiver operating characteristics curve analysis provided an area under the curve of 70% for UACR. UACR value of 140 mg/g could predict the presence of DR with a sensitivity of 60.5% & specificity of 72%, as well as had positive and negative likelihood ratios of 2.16 and 0.54, respectively. Conclusion UACR has the potential to be used as a screening tool for DR until the easing of social restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.