HOMA-IR (Insulin Resistance)

Insulin resistance check

HOMA-IR (Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance) is not a single measurement but a calculation. It uses your fasting blood sugar and fasting insulin, taken at the same time, to estimate how resistant your body is to insulin. A higher score means your body needs more insulin to keep blood sugar normal, which can come before type 2 diabetes.

• To look for insulin resistance in people with obesity, prediabetes or a family history of diabetes
• As part of the assessment of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
• In people with fatty liver or high triglycerides, where insulin resistance is common
• To follow changes after weight loss or other lifestyle changes

Fasting is needed, and the fasting time is shown on this page. While fasting, have nothing but plain water, and avoid tea, coffee, chewing gum and smoking. Stay on your usual medicines unless your doctor advises otherwise, but check with your doctor how to handle insulin or diabetes tablets before the test.

Sample

Blood sample

How it works

The collector comes early in the morning, while you are still fasting, and takes a small blood sample from a vein in your arm. Both glucose and insulin are measured from the same visit.

Report

Within 2 days of collection.

Your report shows the fasting glucose, the fasting insulin and the calculated HOMA-IR score. A higher score suggests greater insulin resistance, but there is no single agreed cut-off, and the score is less reliable in people who use insulin or whose pancreas makes little insulin. It is an estimate rather than a diagnosis. Your doctor will interpret it with your weight, blood pressure, lipids and HbA1c.

This test reports 2 measurements:

• Fasting blood sugar
• Fasting insulin