Ethnic Differences in Insulin Sensitivity and -Cell Function in Premenopausal or Early Perimenopausal Women Without Diabetes The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN)

RESULTS — HOMA%S was lower in African Americans, Chinese Americans, and Japanese Americans when compared with non-Hispanic white women after correcting for waist circumference, presence of impaired fasting glucose, and site. Significant differences persisted only between African Americans and non-Hispanic whites after inclusion of triglycerides in the model. Triglycerides indirectly corrected for the differences in HOMA%S in the other two groups. There were no differences in HOMA%S between the non–Mexican-American Latinos and the non-Hispanic whites. Japanese Americans and Chinese Americans had lower HOMA% than non-Hispanic whites, whereas African Americans had higher HOMA% than non-Hispanic whites after correcting for confounders. HOMA% was similar between non–Mexican-American Latinos and non-Hispanic whites.