Insulin Resistance Calculator — evidence-based tool to check your insulin resistance. Includes formula, tips, and interpretation guide.
Informational only — not a diagnosis. The Insulin Resistance Calculator is an educational tool for a fasting glucose and fasting insulin pair. It does not diagnose, rule out, or treat a condition, and it should not be used to start, stop, or change medicine. For related context, see Creatinine Clearance Calculator and BMI Calculator.
Use the page only with the units and context shown beside each field. fasting glucose in mg/dL and fasting insulin in µIU/mL are not interchangeable with a different specimen, collection time, assay, device, or population. Preserve the date and original laboratory report, because an apparently precise comparison can still be wrong when a reference interval or method has changed.
HOMA-IR is a model-based estimate of insulin sensitivity derived from fasting values, not a direct clinical measurement and not a diagnosis of insulin resistance or diabetes. Fasting status, recent illness, medicines, laboratory assay, and glucose units all matter. Clinicians may instead use HbA1c, repeat fasting glucose, an oral glucose tolerance test, or other measures. Never use this estimate to self-prescribe a diet, medicine, or supplement; discuss the original values and risk factors with a qualified clinician. A qualified clinician should interpret an abnormal, unexpected, urgent, or personally concerning result with the symptoms, history, examination, medicines, and the laboratory's own range.
HOMA-IR = fasting glucose × fasting insulin ÷ 405 when glucose is expressed in mg/dL. This page labels HOMA-IR at or above 2.5 as a higher screening signal only. HOMA-IR has no universal diagnostic cut-off: thresholds vary by population, assay, fasting protocol, and research method.
Reference intervals describe the population and method used by a laboratory; they are not universal treatment thresholds. The reporting laboratory's interval normally takes priority over an example shown here. Age, sex, pregnancy, cycle phase, collection time, fasting status, assay calibration, medicines, and jurisdiction can all change what a result means.
For the named source behind this page, see Matthews et al., Diabetologia: Homeostasis model assessment and American Diabetes Association Standards of Care.The sources are provided so the assumptions can be checked, not so a web calculator can replace the ordering clinician or the laboratory report.
The result is best treated as a prompt to verify context. A value near a boundary can move between categories because of biological variation, rounding, collection conditions, device or assay differences, and the chosen reference population. Repeat testing, when clinically appropriate, should follow the clinician's instructions rather than an arbitrary schedule.
Clinicians may instead use HbA1c, repeat fasting glucose, an oral glucose tolerance test, or other measures. Never use this estimate to self-prescribe a diet, medicine, or supplement; discuss the original values and risk factors with a qualified clinician. If symptoms are severe, rapidly worsening, or urgent, seek appropriate medical care instead of waiting for a calculator comparison. Do not infer a diagnosis from a normal-looking result, because a calculator cannot see symptoms, examination findings, medication history, or related laboratory values.
Informational only — not a diagnosis. Share the raw value, unit, collection date, reference interval, and relevant context with a qualified clinician. That information is more useful than reporting the category alone.
Informational only — not a diagnosis. This calculator is general educational information, not medical advice, a laboratory report, a diagnosis, a treatment recommendation, or an emergency service. Reference ranges and clinical practice vary by laboratory, assay, jurisdiction, age, sex, pregnancy, medicines, and patient history. Discuss results and care decisions with a qualified clinician.