Concurrent smoking and alcohol consumers had higher triglyceride glucose indices than either only smokers or alcohol consumers: a cross-sectional study in Korea.

Background: The triglyceride glucose (TyG) index is a noninsulin-based marker for insulin resistance (IR) in general practice. Although smoking and heavy drinking have been regarded as major risk factors for various chronic diseases, there is limited evidence regarding the combined effects of smoking and alcohol consumption on IR. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the TyG index and smoking and alcohol consumption using two Korean population-based datasets.

Methods: This study included 10,568 adults in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) and 9586 adults in the Korean Initiatives on Coronary Artery Calcification (KOICA) registry datasets. Multivariate logistic analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between smoking and alcohol consumption and the TyG index. To assess the predictive value of smoking and alcohol consumption on high TyG index, the area under the curve (AUC) were compared and net reclassification improvement (NRI) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) analyses were derived.

Results: The combined effect of smoking and alcohol consumption was an independent risk factor of a higher TyG index in the KNHANES (adjusted odds ratio: 4.33, P < .001) and KOICA (adjusted odds ratio: 1.94, P < .001) datasets. Adding smoking and alcohol consumption to the multivariate logistic models improved the model performance for the TyG index in the KNHANES (AUC: from 0.817 to 0.829, P < .001; NRI: 0.040, P < .001; IDI: 0.017, P < .001) and KOICA (AUC: from 0.822 to 0.826, P < .001; NRI: 0.025, P = .006; IDI: 0.005, P < .001) datasets.

Conclusions: Smoking and alcohol consumption were independently associated with the TyG index. Concurrent smokers and alcohol consumers were more likely to have a TyG index that was ≥8.8 and higher than the TyG indices of non-users and those who exclusively consumed alcohol or smoking tobacco.