Prediction of insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus using routinely available clinical parameters

To determine if insulin resistance (IR), an important predictor of cardiovascular risk in the general population and in type 2 diabetes mellitus, can be assessed using simple parameters which are readily available in clinical practice.

This cross-sectional study included 194 patients with type 2 diabetes. Body mass index, waist index (WI), triglyceride levels, 1/HDL, triglyceride/HDL, uric acid and urine albumin:creatinine ratio were investigated as possible predictors of IR.

WI correlated more strongly than any other parameter with log insulin levels, log fasting glucose to insulin ratio (FGIR), log fasting glucose to insulin product (FGIP), homeostatic model assessment (HOMA-IR) and quantitative insulin check index (QUICKI). WI also emerged as the strongest independent predictor of IR indices studied in regression as well as in ROC analyses. At a cut-off of 1.115, WI had a 78% sensitivity and 65% specificity for predicting IR when HOMA-IR was used as indicator of IR, and 74% sensitivity and specificity when QUICKI was used as indicator of IR. Combining WI with other variables did not improve performance significantly.

In our cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes, WI was the parameter with the strongest association with, and the best predictor of, IR.