risk factors for olfactory dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Introduction:patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (dm) often experience olfactory dysfunction; however, the relationship between disease duration and comorbidities remains unclear. materials and methods:an analytical observational study was conducted at the endocrinology and metabolic polyclinicof the h. adam malik general hospital, medan. the study included 66 patients with type 2 dm who met the inclusion criteria. data were collected from medical records, questionnaires, routine ent examinations, and the sniffin’ sticks test (p<0.05). results:no significant relationship was observed between sex and olfactory function in patients with type 2 dm. however, a significant correlation was observed between age and the olfactory function score         (p = 0.012) as well as between the duration of type 2 dm and the olfactory function score (p= 0.005). there was no significant difference in olfactory function scores between patients with type 2 dm with and without comorbidities. conclusions:this study revealed that increasing age and the duration of type 2 dm correlated with declining olfactory function. however, no differences were observed in olfactory function between patients with type 2 dm with and without comorbidities. these findings provide additional insights into the factors that influence olfactory function in patients with type 2 dm.