Waist Circumference Is an Essential Factor in Predicting Insulin Resistance and Early Detection of Metabolic Syndrome in Adults

Background: Metabolic syndrome (Met-S) is considered one of the most important health problems of the 21st century. It includes a group of metabolic disorders that increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as overweight and obesity, elevated lipid profile and blood pressure and insulin resistance (IR). Based on the information mentioned above in which there seems to be a relationship between IR and Met-S, the objective of this work was twofold: on the one hand, to assess the relationship between the values of different insulin resistance risk scales and Met-S determined with three different scales, and on the other, to determine whether any of the components of Met-S predispose more to the appearance of IR. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study of 418,343 workers. Waist circumference was measured and evaluated together with six formulas to assess the insulin resistance index. Categorical variables were evaluated by calculating the frequency and distribution of each one. For quantitative variables, mean and standard deviation were determined, and Student's t-test was applied, while for qualitative variables, the chi-square test was performed. The usefulness of the different risk scales for insulin resistance for predicting metabolic syndrome was evaluated using ROC curves, the area under the curve (AUC), as well as their cut-off points for sensitivity, specificity, and the Youden index. Results: People with metabolic syndrome applying any criteria had higher values in the IR risk scales. The different IR scales made it possible to adequately classify people with metabolic syndrome. Of the three definitions of Met-S, the one that showed the greatest relationship with IR was IDF. Conclusions: Most risk scales for insulin resistance enable the presence of metabolic syndrome to be adequately classified, finding the best ones if the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria are applied. Of the elements included in the Met-S, the one that seems to increase the risk of presenting IR the most is waist circumference; hence, the Met-S definition that is most related to IR is that of the IDF, which is the only one of the three in which a high value of waist circumference is necessary to be able to diagnose Met-S. Waist circumference can be considered the central essential component for detecting insulin resistance and, therefore, the early detection of metabolic syndrome.