ObjectiveTo systematically review the independent physical risk factors associated with diabetic kidney disease (DKD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. MethodsWe searched MEDLINE, EMbase, CBM, CNKI and VIP for all studies about the independent physical risk factors associated with diabetic kidney disease (DKD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus up to December 2012. Two reviewers independently screened studies according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed the methodological quality of included studies. Then meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.2 software. ResultsA total of 11 studies involving 12 957 patients with type 2 diabetes were included. Of these 11 studies, 9 were cross-sectional studies, two were cohort studies, and one was case-control study. The results showed that:the main physical factors associated with DKD were:duration of diabetes (OR=1.11, 95%CI 1.05 to 1.18), waist circumference (OR=1.02, 95%CI 1.00 to 1.04), fasting glucose (OR=1.11, 95%CI 1.07 to 1.16), glycosylated hemoglobin (OR=1.20, 95%CI 1.06 to 1.36), systolic blood pressure (OR=1.03, 95%CI 1.02 to 1.05), diastolic blood pressure (OR=2.41, 95%CI 1.15 to 4.64), triglycerides (OR=1.24, 95%CI 1.02 to 1.51), high-density lipoprotein (OR=0.558, 95%CI 0.369 to 0.844), blood uric acid (OR=1.005, 95%CI 1.002 to 1.009), blood urea nitrogen (OR=1.58, 95%CI 1.37 to 1.82), past history of kidney disease (OR=3.26, 95%CI 1.20 to 8.87) and family history of kidney disease (OR=1.83, 95%CI 1.29 to 2.60). ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that multiple physical factors were associated with the development of type 2 diabetic kidney disease. However, due to the limited quantity and quality of the included studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify the conclusion.