International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Vol. 1 No. 21 [Special Issue - December 2011] 140 Knowledge and Awareness of Diabetic Retinopathy amongst Diabetic Patients in Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya Martha Wanjiru Mwangi Pharmacist Chuka Hospital Kenya Gerald Gikonyo Githinji Biochemist Chepkoilel University College Kenya Felicity Wanjiru Githinji Sociologist/Educationist Moi University Kenya Abstract The main objective of this study was to find out the knowledge and awareness of diabetic retinopathy among diabetic patients at Kenyatta National Hospital, Diabetic clinic. Diabetic retinopathy usually occurs due to poor of management of diabetes mellitus and lack of knowledge on the complications of diabetes mellitus. Patients were randomly selected and requested to fill questionnaires and for those who were not in a position to fill due to illiteracy or visual disability, the researcher filled the questionnaire for them. Regarding to knowledge and awareness, 83% of the respondents had heard of diabetic eye disease (DED), 60% of those who had heard of DED, knew the relationship between DED and diabetes. Fifty percent of all the respondents went for eye check ups. The results suggest that there is general awareness of diabetic retinopathy amongst a majority of patients (83%), however there is need to increasing awareness amongst diabetic patient. Key words: Diabetic retinopathy, knowledge, awareness, Kenya, diabetes mellitus 1.0 Introduction A successful program to combat any disease in the community relies on the awareness of the community on that disease. The community must be aware of the problem and the efforts being taken to help solve it so that they can actively engage in health seeking behavior, such as coming in for treatment. In addition, general knowledge on the specifics of the disease and on what can be done to combat it will help enormously in the effectiveness of the program. (Kaliyaperumal, 2004) 1.1 Community involvement The first and most difficult task in community involvement is the identification of a manageable yet meaningful target community (Barbara, et al. 2003). The identification of a community can be based on a variety of things: • geographic boundaries or spaces • politics of identity and ethnicity • demographic or other variables determined relevant by a particular research question • any number of other fabricated ties that ignore diaspora, globalization, media, and the multiplicity of self- identification. In this paper the target community was identified on the basis of demography. 1.2 Prevalence of diabetes Diabetes is one of the most significant public health challenges that we face in the 21st century. It and other similar chronic conditions are already taking a huge toll on human health and resources, yet they continue to be neglected by States, individuals and communities (World Diabetes Foundation, 2007). ―Chronic conditions‖ describes all health problems that persist across time and require some degree of health care management.