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Decreases in urine specific gravity and urinary creatinine in elderly women

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Abstract

Objective: To examine the effects of aging on urinary levels of creatinine (CR) and urine specific gravity (SG) among women in a large-scale epidemiology survey. Methods: Data on CR and SG in urine, together with smoking habits and menopausal status, were selected from previously established databases and combined with the results of supplemental sample collection. In total, CR and SG data were available for 11,090 never-smoking women (total group; 29–80 years of age); a subgroup of 1,851 women who lived in Kyoto was also selected from the total group. Data from the two groups were subjected to statistical analyses. In statistical evaluation, SG was converted to factor G, which was defined as (SG−1.000)×1,000. Results: Classification by decade of years of age showed that both CR and SG decreased steadily as a function of advancement in age over 30 years, both in the total group and in the Kyoto subgroup, showing high reproducibility of the observation on a whole-country basis and on a local basis. When the levels at 80 years of age were compared with those at 30 years, there was an approximately 60% and 30% decrease in CR and factor G, respectively. Thus, the effects of aging were more marked on CR than on factor G (and therefore on SG). Menopause appeared to be an influential factor in the reduction of CR and SG, separately from aging itself. Conclusions: Urinary levels of creatinine and, to a lesser extent, urine specific gravity, steadily decreased as a function of ages of over 30 years in women.

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Acknowledgments

Part of this work was supported by research grants from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the Government of Japan, for the fiscal year 2003. The authors are grateful to Miss F. Ohashi for her skillful work in statistical analysis. Cooperation and support of administrations and staff of the following organizations in recruiting study participants are gratefully acknowledged: Hokkaido Industrial Health Management Fund (Sapporo), Miyagi Occupational Hygiene and Medical Association (Sendai), Kanagawa Health Service Association (Yokohama), Niigata Association of Labor Health (Niigata), Chubu Health Research Center (Iida), Kyoto Industrial Health Association (Kyoto), Chugoku Occupational Health Association (Fukuyama), Kochi General Health Service Association (Kochi), Nishinihon Occupational Health Service Center (Kitakyushu), and Okinawa General Health Service Association (Naha), Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kyoto Industrial Health Association, 67 Nishinokyo-Kitatsuboicho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto, 604-8472, Japan

    J. Moriguchi, T. Ezaki, T. Tsukahara, Y. Fukui, H. Ukai, S. Okamoto & M. Ikeda

  2. Kyoto Women’s University, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, 605-8501, Japan

    S. Shimbo

  3. Occupational Health Research and Development Center, Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-0014, Japan

    H. Sakurai

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  1. J. Moriguchi
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  2. T. Ezaki
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  3. T. Tsukahara
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  4. Y. Fukui
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  5. H. Ukai
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  6. S. Okamoto
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  7. S. Shimbo
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  8. H. Sakurai
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  9. M. Ikeda
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Correspondence to M. Ikeda.

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Moriguchi, J., Ezaki, T., Tsukahara, T. et al. Decreases in urine specific gravity and urinary creatinine in elderly women. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 78, 438–445 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-004-0597-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-004-0597-z

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