IntroductionThe aim of this study was to assess the correlation between surrogate insulin resistance (IR) indexes and carotid atherosclerosis (CA) in normal-weight populations, as well as compared their ability to predict CA.MethodA total of 26,795 middle-aged and older adult individuals with normal body weights were included. Triglyceride-glucose index (TyG), TyG-body mass index, TyG-waist circumference (TyG-WC), TyG-waist-to-height ratio (TyG-WHtR), visceral adiposity index, Chinese VAI (CVAI) and lipid accumulation product (LAP) were determined using established formulas. The associations between these surrogate indexes and CA were assessed using logistic regression models and restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis. Receiver operating characteristic curves were utilized to compare the performance of these indexes for predicting CA.ResultThe levels of all seven surrogate indexes of IR were significantly higher in normal-weight individuals with CA than in those without CA (p 89.83, LAP >28.91, TyG-WHtR >4.42 and TyG-WC >704.93. The area under the curve for CVAI was significantly greater than for other indexes (p