Kidney Tests to Track With Type 2 Diabetes

Two tests come up most: eGFR, a blood-based estimate of how well your kidneys filter blood, and a urine test for albumin. Bring the dates and values of your latest results of each, with the range printed on your lab report, and ask your doctor when each is next due. This page lists what to bring and what to ask. It is not advice about what your results mean.

For an A1c and eGFR walkthrough, see our page of questions to ask about A1c and eGFR.

The two tests

• Blood test (eGFR). NIDDK says a blood test checks how well your kidneys are filtering your blood. eGFR is an estimate calculated from it.
• Urine test (albumin, often as UACR). NIDDK says the urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio measures and compares the amount of albumin with the amount of creatinine in a urine sample.

KDIGO, an international kidney guideline group, says to test people at risk for kidney disease using both urine albumin measurement and assessment of GFR. Each tells you something the other does not.

What the sources say about timing

NIDDK says you should get tested every year for kidney disease if you have type 2 diabetes. NIDDK's pages are plain-language summaries with 2016 and 2017 review dates, so treat the schedule as general. Your doctor may set a different one. Our A1c and eGFR page covers the American Diabetes Association's schedule, which we read on October 8, 2026.

Why one result is not a diagnosis

KDIGO says not to assume chronic kidney disease from a single abnormal eGFR or albumin-to-creatinine ratio, as the finding could come from a recent acute kidney injury. KDIGO defines chronic kidney disease as abnormalities of kidney structure or function present for a minimum of 3 months. That is why dates matter. For people who already have chronic kidney disease, KDIGO says a change in eGFR of more than 20 percent on a later test exceeds the expected variability and warrants evaluation. That is a statement about people who already have the condition, and your doctor decides how it applies to you.

What to bring

• Your eGFR results with their dates, units and the range printed on each lab report.
• Your urine albumin results (UACR or similar) with their dates.
• Which lab each result came from. MedlinePlus says results from different labs cannot be compared directly and that using the same lab helps when you look for trends.
• Your list of medicines and any question about how they relate to your kidney tests.
• Your A1c results, since your doctor will read them together with the kidney numbers.

Questions to ask

• When was my last urine albumin test, and when was my last eGFR? Is either due?
• How have my eGFR and urine albumin results changed over time?
• If a result is outside the range printed on my lab report, does it need to be repeated, and when?
• How often should I have each test?
• Who on my care team looks at my kidney results, and do they see the same numbers?

What to do with the files

Phi Longevity PRISM can build a one-page Care Team Brief from your lab reports with each kidney result, its date, its trend and the guideline behind each flag, and for type 2 diabetes it points out tests that look overdue. See our one-page diabetes and kidney summary, our guide for people with chronic conditions and the CKD lab guide.

Start free: see my kidney results on one page →

What Phi Longevity PRISM does not do

It does not diagnose, and it does not tell you what a result means for you or what to change. It uses the range printed on your own lab report and never swaps in its own. It reads lab results today; medicines, diagnoses and allergies are not imported yet. Your doctor decides what you need.