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Background Currently, there are 537 million patients with diabetes mellitus in the world, with the greatest number of affected people in China. Accumulating studies have found that the lungs are also the target organs of diabetes mellitus. Previous cross-sectional studies on diabetes mellitus and lung function have consistently concluded that people with diabetes mellitus have lower lung function than unaffected individuals. However, longitudinal studies are scant on diabetes mellitus and the decline rate of lung function, and the existing conclusions are inconsistent. Objective To investigate the association between diabetes mellitus and lung function in male people. Methods From 2014 to 2020, 18 438 male employees receiving lung function test and other physical examinations in Kailuan General Hospital were involved in this study, including 12 448 who completed the second lung function test. They were assigned into the normal fasting plasma glucose group (FPG<6.1 mmol/L, n=15 727), impaired fasting glucose group (IFG group, 6.1 mmol/L≤FPG<7.0 mmol/L, n=1 490) and diabetes mellitus group (FPG≥7.0 mmol/L or a history of diabetes mellitus, or use of hypoglycemic drugs, n=1 221) based on the blood glucose levels. A generalized linear model was used to analyze the association of different blood glucose levels with lung function indicators [FVC%pred (percentage of predicted value for forced vital capacity), FEV1%pred (percentage of predicted value for forced expiratory volume in one second), MMEF% (percentage of predicted value for maximum mid-expiratory flow), and FEV1/FVC (the ratio of forced expiratory flow in one second to forced vital capacity)] and decline rate of lung function. Results Among the 18 438 observed subjects, the average age was 42.90±9.73 years. FVC%pred and FEV1%pred were significantly lower in the diabetes mellitus group than the normal FPG and IFG groups, and MMEF%pred was significantly higher in the IFG group than the normal FPG and diabetes mellitus group (P<0.05). No significant difference was found in the decline rate of lung function among the three groups (P>0.05). After adjusting for confounders, the generalized linear analysis showed that with the reference of the normal FPG group, diabetes mellitus was negatively correlated with FVC%pred (B=-1.000, 95%CI=-1.784 to -0.218, P=0.012) and FEV1%pred (B=-1.266, 95%CI=-2.236 to -0.296, P=0.011), but not associated with MMEF%pred and FEV1/FVC (P>0.05). There was no correlation between IFG and diabetes with the decline rate of lung function indicators (P>0.05). Conclusion Diabetes mellitus are negatively associated with lung function indicators (FVC%pred, FEV1%pred) in male people. However, we did not find an association of diabetes mellitus with the decline rate of lung function in men.