Microalbuminuria is a negative correlate for cognitive function in older adults with peripheral arterial disease: results from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2002

. Objectives. Microalbuminuria (MA) has been increasingly identified as a marker of cardiovascular risk. Although poor cognitive function has been implicated as a sequelae of increased cardiovascular burden, little is known about the association between MA and cognitive function. Design. Population‐based cross‐sectional study. Settings. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2002 in the USA. Subjects. 2049 noninstitutionalized adults (≥60 years) with nonmissing values in cognitive test, urinary albumin‐to‐creatinine ratio (UACR) and ankle‐brachial blood pressure index (ABPI) was analysed. Participants with UACR >300 μg mg−1 were excluded. Main outcome measures. The UACR, in the unit of μg mg−1, was calculated by dividing the urinary albumin value by the urinary creatinine concentration. MA was defined as UACR between 30 and 300 μg mg−1. Cognitive function was measured by a 2‐min Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). Peripheral artery disease (PAD) was defined as an ABPI