Data from: A cross-sectional study investigating the relationship between pit recovery time and serum albumin levels in bilateral lower extremity pitting oedema

Objectives: In this study, we re-evaluated the relationship between pit
recovery time (PRT) and serum albumin levels and elucidated the factors
influencing PRT. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Patients who
visited the outpatient department or were admitted to a small urban
hospital in Japan. Participants: 135 adult Japanese patients with
bilateral lower extremity pitting oedema. Interventions: Primary and
secondary outcome measures: This study assessed the correlation between
PRT and serum albumin levels, calculated the predictive accuracy for
identifying a group with low albumin levels when the PRT of the lower leg
was < 40 s, and identified variables that influence PRT. Results:
We found no significant correlation between lower leg PRT and serum
albumin levels. Furthermore, a PRT of < 40 s was largely
ineffective in predicting low albumin levels. Factors influencing PRT
included the diagnosis of malnutrition oedema, examinations conducted
during hospitalisation, diagnosis of cardiac oedema, use of diuretics,
thickness of the lower limb soft tissue, serum creatinine level, estimated
right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP), age, serum albumin level,
potassium level, and blood urea nitrogen to serum creatinine ratio.
Notable correlations with PRT were observed in relation to lower limb soft
tissue thickness, age, and estimated RVSP. Conclusions: Given that the PRT
is influenced by multiple factors, its correlation with serum albumin
levels is weak. Thus, predicting hypoalbuminaemia based solely on PRT is
inaccurate.