PURPOSE: This pilot study explored health professionals' and patients' perceptions of diabetes through the development of the Diabetes Semantic Differential Scales (DSDS). These scales evaluate the meaning of diabetes-related concepts. METHODS: Health professionals (n = 39) attending a CME course completed the health professional version of the DSDS. Patients (n = 70) completed the patient version of the DSDS. RESULTS: The reliability of the DSDS was supported. The scale scores of health professionals, African American patients, and Caucasian patients, examined initially by one-way analyses of variance, showed significant differences among the groups for 4 of the 18 diabetes concepts. Effect sizes were also examined among these groups. For 7 concepts, there was a significant practical difference between the perceptions of the health professionals and the African American patients. For the Caucasian patients, differences were noted for 6 concepts. CONCLUSIONS: There are 3 primary inferences from this pilot study. First, health professionals and patients are likely to hold different perceptions of key diabetes concepts. Second, the concepts on which professionals and patients differ are not always what one would expect. Third, health professionals should clarify patients' understanding of diabetes to minimize the potential for miscommunication.