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Effect of Age and Breed on the Prevalence of Microalbuminuria in Dogs

SUMMARY:

Relationship between age and percent of dogs testing positive (P <0.0001) indicated likelihood of positive results increasing with age.
Relationship between age and breed (P <0.01), suggested that incidence rates with age are not the same between breeds.
Results indicate likelihood of MA increases with age, and may be breed dependent.

The prevalence of microalbuminuria (MA: urine albumin concentrations between 1 and 30 mg/dL) was determined in dogs owned by employees of veterinary hospitals in the United States using an in-clinic screening test. Results from 3041 dogs obtained from over 350 clinics were used to evaluate the relationship between age and/or breed and the prevalence of MA. Average age of the population tested was 7.5 years of age. The population contained representatives of over 250 different breeds or breed crosses. Because the measurement of MA was qualitative in nature, logistic regression (SAS, SAS Institute, Cary, NC) was used to evaluate the results. Across the samples tested, 24.7% of the dogs tested positive. The relationship between age (range <1 to >15 years) and the percent of dogs testing positive was statistically significant (P <0.0001, odds ratio = 1.266), indicating that the likelihood of a positive result increases with age (4% positive at 1 year, 55% positive at 15 years or older; these age prevalence data have been previously reported at www.heska.com). Not all breeds were represented in sufficient numbers for a meaningful statistical analysis. The most highly represented breeds were analyzed to date. These breeds included Labrador retrievers (Lab, n = 315), Labrador Retriever crossbreeds (LabX, n = 158), Golden retrievers (Gld, n = 152), and mixed breeds (mix, n = 128). The interaction between age and breed was statistically significant (P <0.01), suggesting that rate of changes in incidence rates with age are not the same between these 4 groups. The odds ratios for the Lab and Gld groups were significantly greater than that for the mix group (1.39, 1.38, 1.28, respectively, P <0.05). The LabX odds ratio (1.37) was not different from the mix group. Based on these results, it is clear that the likelihood of MA increases with age, and may be breed dependent. MA may be caused by a variety of infectious or metabolic disorders. Further analysis is required to determine if increased breed prevalence is due to genetic susceptibility or is an indirect consequence of differences in the breed-related incidence of infectious or metabolic disease.

Reproduced with permission of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.