A correlation analysis between TyG-derived indices and diabetes mellitus: based on the NHANES database

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a key global public health issue with rising incidence. The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index has been widely applied to assess insulin resistance and metabolic abnormalities in recent years. However, the relation of the TyG index with DM is elusive when combined with central obesity indicators. This research was conducted to probe into the relationship between TyG-derived indices and DM. A total of 10,729 participants from the NHANES database were enrolled, of whom 1,984 had DM. The linkage of five TyG-derived indices with DM was examined using a weighted logistic regression model. At the same time, stratified analysis was undertaken on different gender and age subgroups. To evaluate the predictive performance of each indicator, ROC curve analysis was undertaken to examine the predictive capability of different indicators. The findings indicated that all TyG-derived indices were greatly positively linked with the risk of DM. The AUC values of TyG-CI and TyG-WWI were considerably higher than those of the TyG index and other indicators, demonstrating a stronger capability to predict the risk of DM. In subgroup analyses, both TyG-CI and TyG-WWI exhibited high robustness across different populations regardless of gender or age. The indices with the TyG index combined with indicators related to central obesity, especially TyG-CI and TyG-WWI, are effective tools for predicting the risk of DM.