Key Point -Because factors such as fever and exercise can cause a transient increase in protein excretion, patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus who have abnormal findings on annual measurement of the urine albumin excretion should undergo repeat urinalyses twice within the next 6 months; positive findings on two of the three urine samples would confirm a diagnosis of microalbuminuria defined as a urine albumin-creatinine ratio between 30 and 300 mg/g.