Microalbuminuria and all-cause mortality in treated hypertensive individuals. Does sex matter? The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT), Norway

In hypertensive individuals, few prospective studies are available in which the association between microalbuminuria (MA) and all-cause mortality in the 2 sexes have been studied within the same population. We conducted a 4.3-year follow-up of 2307 men and 3062 women (> or =20 years old) with self-reported treated hypertension, all identified in the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT), Norway, 1995 to 1997 (n=65 258). The main outcome measures were relative risk (RR) of all-cause mortality according to increasing albuminuria, defined at different levels of albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR). There was a consistent positive association between increasing ACR and all-cause mortality in men. The adjusted RR for ACR in the fourth quartile (> or =1.70 mg/mmol) was 1.6 (95% CI, 1.0 to 2.6), compared with ACR in the first quartile (