Triglyceride - Glucose (TyG) Index as a Screening Tool in Community Settings for Early Detection of Type 2 Diabetes...

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) prevalence is rising globally, especially in low- and middle-income countries, and many cases remain undiagnosed until complications occur. Early identification in community settings is crucial. The Triglyceride-Glucose (TyG) index has been proposed as a simple and low-cost surrogate marker of insulin resistance.

This systematic review aims to evaluate the performance and applicability of the TyG index as a community-based screening tool for identifying individuals at risk of T2DM in young and adult populations.

We conducted a systematic literature search in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Medline (2015-2025). Observational studies in community or primary care populations were included if they reported TyG cutoff and diagnostic accuracy metrics. Data extraction covered study design, population, TyG cutoff values, and performance metrics. Study quality was assessed using the QUADAS-2 tool.

Seventeen studies conducted across Asia, Latin America, and Europe met the inclusion criteria. TyG cutoff values varied between 4.49-9.45. In nearly all studies, higher TyG values were significantly associated with insulin resistance, impaired fasting glucose, or incident T2DM. The TyG index frequently demonstrated comparable or superior diagnostic performance relative to HOMA-IR in prediction settings.

The TyG index is a feasible, reliable, and low-cost biomarker for community-level screening of T2DM risk. For implementation in settings like Indonesia, local validation of cutoff values and cost-effectiveness studies are needed. Implementation of the TyG index in primary-care screening could improve cost-effective detection of metabolic risk in resource-limited settings.