title: Reference values for fasting insulin in 75 year old females and males.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Reference intervals for insulin are often based on fairly small study groups with unknown body mass index (BMI). They are also much younger than most patients seeking care. These values are not optimal for elderly patients, as many biological markers change over time and adequate reference intervals are important for correct clinical decisions.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied fasting insulin (f-insulin) values in a cohort of 698 75-year old non-diabetic males and females. The 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles for all individuals, males and females were calculated according to the recommendations of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry on the statistical treatment of reference intervals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a strong positive correlation between BMI and f-insulin, which led to the calculation of separate reference intervals for individuals with BMI ≤ 30.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The reference interval for f-insulin for all study subjects was 1.74-18.27 mIU/L and for individuals with BMI ≤ 30 (n=574) the reference interval was 1.66-15.05 mIU/L.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: anders.larsson@akademiska.se.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Larsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stridsberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lind
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005215:Fasting / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin
keywords: 75-Year old population; Biological marker; Human; Insulin; Reference interval