Interactive calculator to estimate insulin sensitivity in type 1 diabetes
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Updated: Jul 2, 2025

Improving IV Insulin Administration in a Community Hospital
Published on: June 11, 2012
Andrzej S Januszewski1,2,3, Pawel Niedzwiecki4, Nirupa Sachithanandan2
1NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Abstract:
The gold standard for measuring insulin sensitivity (IS) is the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp, a time, costly, and labor-intensive research tool. A low insulin sensitivity is associated with a complication-risk in type 1 diabetes. Various formulae using clinical data have been developed and correlated with measured IS in type 1 diabetes. We consolidated multiple formulae into an online calculator (bit.ly/estimated-GDR), enabling comparison of IS and its probability of IS <4.45 mg/kg/min (low) or >6.50 mg/kg/min (high), as measured in a validation set of clamps in 104 adults with type 1 diabetes. Insulin sensitivity calculations using different formulae varied significantly, with correlations (R2) ranging 0.005-0.87 with agreement in detecting low and high glucose disposal rates in the range 49-93% and 89-100%, respectively. We demonstrate that although the calculated IS varies between formulae, their interpretation remains consistent. Our free online calculator offers a user-friendly tool for individual IS calculations and also offers efficient batch processing of data for research.
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