Study design and study site
A cross-sectional study was conducted at the outpatient diabetes and hypertension clinics of the Effia-Nkwanta Regional hospital (ERH) and the Takoradi Government Hospital (TGH) in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis between December 2012 and May 2013. These serve as the major healthcare facilities in the metropolis providing primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare services for a population of 445,000. The healthcare system is accessible to those who contribute or pay the minimum of GH 20.0 yearly premium, equivalent to about three times the daily minimum wage of GH 6.0; about 66 % of the population is covered. In Ghana, patients with diabetes or hypertension receive specialized care in teaching, regional or municipal hospitals since they are the only facilities with the capacity to diagnose and manage this condition. Sekondi-Takoradi is the administrative capital of the Western Region. It has a land area of 385 km2 and is located in the South-Western part of Ghana and about 242 km west of Accra, the capital city of Ghana.
Inclusion and exclusion criteria
We enrolled eligible adult (>18 years) outpatients receiving medical care at the diabetes and hypertension clinics of the hospitals during the study period. Patients diagnosed with high blood pressure or on anti-hypertensive drugs, diabetes or both hypertension and diabetes were included in this study. We excluded patients with other kidney diseases (such as glomerulonephritis, vasculitis, kidney infection, connective tissue disease or adult polycystic kidney disease), those undergoing peritoneal or hemodialysis, and those with inflammatory bowel disease or rheumatoid arthritis. We also excluded people with known hepatitis B or C and HIV/AIDS.
Patient screening, recruitment and data collection
We screened 382 consecutive patients with diabetes, hypertension or both who visited the outpatient department of the two hospitals for routine evaluation. Diabetes was defined as a diagnosis of diabetes or taking a hypoglycaemic drug, and hypertension as a diagnosis of hypertension or taking an anti-hypertensive drug. Information on age, gender, fasting blood glucose, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, medication used, duration on medication, and duration of diabetes was obtained using a pre-tested questionnaire and the patient medical records.
Measurement of blood pressure
Trained personnel used a mercury sphygmomanometer (ACCOSON, England) with a standard or a large cuff, appropriate to the patient’s size, to measure blood pressure after patients rested for 5 min, in accordance with recommendations of the American Heart Association Council on High Blood Pressure Research [10]. We report mean values of duplicate measurements.
Body mass index (BMI)
Height (nearest centimetre) and weight (nearest 0.1 kg), without shoes and in light clothing were measured. Participants were weighed on a bathroom scale (Zhongshan Camry Electronic Co. Ltd, Guangdong, China) and their height measured with a wall-mounted ruler. BMI was calculated by dividing weight (kg) by height squared (m2), and categorized according to WHO criteria into normal weight (BMI 18.5–24.9), underweight (<18.5), overweight (25.0–29.9), obese (30.0–39.9) [11].
Blood sample collection and processing
A 4 ml venous blood sample was collected from each participant and 1 and 3 ml were dispensed into a fluoride oxalate tube and a serum gel separator tube respectively. After centrifugation at 1500 g for 3 min, the plasma and serum were stored in cryovials at −80 °C until assays were performed.
Biochemical analysis
Plasma fasting blood sugar (FBS), serum urea and creatinine were estimated using automated chemistry analyzer (Selectra JR). Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated using the CKD-EPI equation using the coefficients for black ethnicity in all [12].
Urine sample collection and processing
Urine protein was quantitatively estimated using the method of [13]. Estimation of urine creatinine was done using automated analyzer (ENVOY500/BT 3000 chemistry analyzer. Urine protein-creatinine ratio (uPCR) was calculated by the following formula: uPCR (mg/mmol = urine protein (mg/dl)/urine creatinine (mmol/dl). The urine protein/creatinine ratio (uPCR) was reported as mg/mmol. Resources were not available to measure albuminuria. The relationship between uACR and uPCR is not a simple one, so we did not attempt to convert between the two [14]. Instead we report uPCR in uACR categories, recognizing that this leads to overestimation of the proportions of patients with problems.
Statistical analysis
Analysis was performed using Graphpad prism version 5.0 (GraphPad software, San Diego California USA, www.graphpad.com). Two-sample Student’s t test and chi-squared or Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare groups. A P-value ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Ethical considerations
The study was approved by the University of Cape Coast institutional review board (UCC/IRB) and the committee of ethics of TGH and ERH. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.