Insulin Resistance and Estimated 10-Year Risk of a First Hard Cardiovascular Event

Abstract

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the association between insulin resistance and the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Methods

A cross-sectional study including 2128 participants aged 40-79 years was conducted using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2018. The quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI) and homeostasis model assessment of β-cell function (HOMA-β) were used as independent variables. The 10-year risk of a first hard atherosclerotic cardiovascular event was used as the dependent variable, with other potential confounding factors considered. Multivariate linear regression models and smooth curve fitting were used to assess the associations between insulin resistance and 10-year risk.

Results

A total of 2128 patients, comprising 1191 men and 937 women, were included in our analysis. The regression analyses revealed a negative correlation between the QUICKI score and the 10-year risk of a first hard atherosclerotic cardiovascular event [β = - 8.85, CI (- 15.77, - 1.93)] after adjusting for age, race, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, hypertension treatment, smoking, diabetes, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Conversely, an increase in HOMA-β was associated with 10-year risk [β = 6.84, CI (0.45, 13.23)]. Gender-specific subgroup analysis indicated that the QUICKI had a β value of 0.077 (0.046, 0.108) for men and 0.080 (0.061, 0.094) for women.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that increased insulin resistance is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Keywords

Insulin resistance / 10-year risk / QUICKI / HOMA-β / NHANES / Cross-sectional study

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Huazhong University of Science and Technology 2025

Data Availability The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Declarations

Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate The ethics review board of the National Center for Health Statistics approved all NHANES protocols and written informed consent was obtained from all patients.

Research Involving Human and Animal Participants Not Applied.

Consent for Publication The Authors confirm that the work described has not been published before.

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