IntroductionIntroduction: Diabetes is a serious illness leading to dangerous c:
Diabetes is a serious illness leading to dangerous complications of many systems and organs that are mainly related to hyperglycaemia. An incorrect sugar level results in acute complications. Long-lasting diabetes, especially if not cured intensively, results in organ damage because of degenerative changes in the small and medium-sized vessels, and in large arteries.

Objective:
To evaluate the level of knowledge of patients with diabetes about the complications connected with this disease.

Material and Methods:
Material used for the study was a questionnaire concerning the acute and chronic complications that may occur during diabetes, completed by 140 patients diagnosed with diabetes and treated at Independent Public Clinical Hospital No. 4 in Lublin in 2011. The research material was analyzed and elaborated using descriptive statistics methods.

Results:
Knowledge of respondents about complications of diabetes was insufficient. Most respondents could not identify all the acute complications that may occur during diabetes. Respondents asked about chronic complications indicated mostly eye disease, kidney disease and diabetic foot syndrome. However, some respondents did not know that diabetes can lead to numerous complications. Half of the respondents could not identify the types of diabetic foot, only 1/3 of respondents knew the correct answer. The most common chronic complications of diabetes, such as neuropathy, retinopathy and nephropathy, were not known among the respondents, and mostly had not been explained properly.

Conclusions:
In spite of long illness duration among the patients in the study group, knowledge about diabetes complications, both acute and chronic, is not gratifying.