Abstract: Objective To understand diabetes awareness among residents in Changsha city and to discuss the influencing factors. Methods A multi-stage stratified random sampling method was conducted in residents (≥18 years old) from five counties or districts. Results The diabetes prevalence rate among residents above 18 years old was 10.06%, and the rate of diabetes awareness was 63.86%. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the main influencing factors of diabetes awareness were age, district, degree of education, hypertension, drinking, exercise, salt intake and oil intake. The age, the degree of education were positively associated with the diabetes awareness rate (P<0.001, P=0.011,respectively). The diabetes awareness rate in urban (69.27%) was higher than in rural (57.70%) (χ²=28.469,P<0.001).The people who suffered from both diabetes and hypertension (68.14%) had a higher awareness rate than the people who only had diabetes (57.47%) (χ²=23.330, P<0.001). The diabetes patients who don't drink (P<0.001) and often do exercises (P<0.001) had a higher awareness rate. Conclusions The diabetes prevalence rate was high in Changsha adults, but the diabetes awareness rate was low. Health education and blood sugar screening should be strengthened to increase the rate of diabetes awareness, and to prevent and delay the complications.