Urine Albumin-Creatinine Ratio
Urine albumin-creatinine ratio is strongly right-skewed in the general population because most adults have low albumin excretion while a smaller subgroup has diabetes, hypertension, or chronic kidney disease that pushes values upward.
Unit: mg/g · 12 slices · age and sex · 1 source
Filed under panels: Renal Function · topics: Metabolic , Renal
These pages use urine albumin-creatinine ratio from the NHANES 2017-March 2020 pre-pandemic albumin and creatinine urine dataset. UACR standardizes urine albumin to urine creatinine so that spot urine samples can be compared more meaningfully across hydration states. It is widely used to assess albuminuria and kidney damage risk.
Population Distribution
Browse by Demographic
| Age (years) | male (mg/g) | female (mg/g) |
|---|---|---|
| 20-29 | 2.6–25.9 (5.1) | 3.5–50.5 (7.2) |
| 30-39 | 2.4–28.4 (4.7) | 3.1–40.9 (6.2) |
| 40-49 | 2.9–35.3 (4.9) | 3.7–75.4 (7.7) |
| 50-59 | 3–143.4 (6.1) | 3.6–61.8 (7.7) |
| 60-69 | 3–126.4 (6.8) | 3.8–70 (8.7) |
| 70+ | 3.6–256.4 (10.5) | 4.5–146.1 (13.2) |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is UACR more useful than urine albumin alone from a spot sample?
Urine concentration changes with hydration. Dividing albumin by urine creatinine helps standardize the result, so a spot urine sample gives more stable information about albumin excretion than albumin concentration alone.
Why is UACR so right-skewed in the population?
Most adults have very low urinary albumin excretion, but a smaller subgroup has diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, or vascular injury that raises albumin leakage substantially. That creates a long upper tail.
Does UACR measure kidney filtration or kidney damage?
Primarily kidney damage risk. Creatinine and eGFR reflect filtration, while UACR reflects abnormal albumin leakage across the glomerular barrier.