ALB and diabetic kidney disease: The primary outcomes were the progression of arterial stiffness, assessed by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV) changes, and the incidence of DKD, defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate < 60 mL/min/1.73m2 or urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio ≥ 3.39 mg/mmol.