Urinary abnormalities in asymptomatic adolescent Nigerians.

Previous urinary survey studies from Nigeria have been virtually restricted to young primary school children, usually below the age of 12 years. This study focuses on adolescent population drawn from 4 secondary schools in Benin City, numbering 2169 (1143F, 1026M) with age range 13-20 years. A dipstick method (multistix 10SG) was sued for urine testing. The prevalence of urinary abnormality (proteinuria or haematuria) for both sexes was 5.25% with proteinuria and haematuria accounting for 4.7% and 0.55% respectively. Proteinuria and haematuria were more frequent in girls being 4.72% and 0.79% respectively as against 4.68% and 0.29% respectively for boys though, the difference was not statistically significant. Significantly, 6 of the girls with proteinuria (0.52%) had nephrotic range proteinuria though oedema free. One of these revealed minimal change lesion on renal biopsy and responded well to steroid therapy. Another, had spontaneous remission of her proteinuria on follow up. All subjects with urinary abnormalities had normal renal function initially and after 1 year of follow up. The study shows that in the Nigerian setting routine urinary surveys could reveal significant abnormalities which may benefit from early and relatively cheap therapeutic measures.