Asymptomatic proteinuria in Indonesian adolescent students

Abstract

Proteinuria is one of the common manifestations of kidney disease that has a serious impact on the progressive deterioration of kidney function. In developed countries, school screening for asymptomatic proteinuria is routinely performed, especially in adolescent students, to detect early stage of chronic kidney disease. This study aimed to find out the prevalence of asymptomatic persistent proteinuria in adolescent students. This was a multi-assessment study. Screening for proteinuria was conducted on five junior high schools across Jakarta, Indonesia, in April-June 2015. Healthy students aged 12–14 years whose parents provided informed consent were selected randomly. Urine collections were performed thrice. We used dipstick tests and protein-to-creatinine ratio to measure protein in the urine. From 536 students, 485 were eligible and recruited for this study. They were more female and well-nourished students. Hypertension constituted 12.9% of students. Proteinuria accounted for 7.42%. Transient, orthostatic, and persistent proteinuria were found in 5.77%, 1.03%, and 0.62% of students, respectively. The prevalence of asymptomatic persistent proteinuria among adolescent students in Jakarta is higher than that in other populations in Asia. Consequently, a routine screening to detect proteinuria should be considered in Indonesia to detect chronic kidney disease in children.