Aims: To determine whether insulin resistance (IR calculated using the HOMA model) has a dominant role in the clustering of cardiovascular risk factors in the Asian Indian population.
Methods: A total of 654 non-diabetic subjects aged > or =40 years (male 396: female 258) were selected from a population survey. They had estimates of fasting and 2 h plasma glucose, insulin levels, body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and blood pressure. Factor analysis was carried out using the principle components analysis (PCA) with varimax orthogonal rotation of continuously distributed variables, considered to represent the components of insulin resistance syndrome including the calculated IR.
Results: There were three major clusters of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk variables in men and four clusters in women. Insulin resistance, 2 h plasma glucose, insulin and obesity aggregated as the major domain. Insulin resistance was not linked with hypertension. BMI was a common link for all the three factors in men, and for three of the four in women.
Conclusions: Insulin resistance is not the only underlying factor for the clustering of CVD risk factors in south Indians. These findings are consistent with the presence of several distinct physiological domains, as shown in other ethnic groups.