The Role of Waist-to-Height Ratio in Screening for Hyperinsulinemia in Normoglycemic Individuals

Background: The identification of hyperinsulinemia is crucial for the timely prediction of impaired insulin metabolism, especially in lineages of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Objective: The main objective of this study was to compare and correlate insulin resistance and waist-to-height ratio in healthy subjects with and without a family history of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Methods: This cross-sectional study was aimed to assess insulin resistance and waist-to-height ratio in normal glucose-tolerant participants with and without a family history of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. A total of 80 individuals, aged 20-50 years, were recruited and divided into two categories of 40 each based on their family history of diabetes. All participants showed normal glucose tolerance as evidenced by the oral glucose tolerance test. Waist-to-height ratio, fasting plasma glucose, 2-hour postprandial glucose, fasting plasma insulin, and insulin resistance using the Homeostasis model of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) were assessed. Results: The analysis showed that insulin resistance and fasting plasma insulin were positively correlated (p-value=0.001) with waist-to-height ratio. As expected, there was a strong positive correlation between waist circumference and WHtR, fasting plasma insulin, and HOMA-IR (p-value =0.0001). However, there were no significant differences between their means. Conclusions: The waist-to-height ratio could serve as a screening metric to identify hyperinsulinemia in individuals with a familial predisposition to Type 2 Diabetes who exhibit normal glucose tolerance.