Introduction. Hypertension is the most common risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, which are nowadays the main cause of mortality in Europe. Lifestyle modification, being a part of non‑pharmacological treatment, lowers blood pressure and reduces the dose of antihypertensives. Aim. Comparison of health behaviours in hypertensive in- and outpatients. Material and methods. The study was conducted among patients hospitalized and treated in the cardiology clinic in the Railway Hospital in Wilkowice‑Bystra. Alltogether 113 patients with hypertension were included. Method of diagnostic survey was used, with a Health Behaviour Inventory (IZZ) by Juczyński as the research tool. Results. Among inpatients there were significantly more these who had hypertension up to 5 years and outpatients suffered from hypertension most often 10–15 years (p = 0.004). The occurrence of cardiovascular disease in the family were found in 54% of patients. The vast majority of respondents (78%) had concomitant diseases, most often – coronary heart disease (41.6%). Most of the outpatients (63.6%) showed a high severity of health behaviors, and most hospitalized (41.4%) manifested their average severity. In all health behaviors outpatients obtained a significantly more points in relation to the hospitalized patients. A overall health behavior index in the outpatients was also significantly higher (p = 0.006). The surveyed women received significantly more points in almost all kind of health behaviors. The overall health behavior index in women was significantly higher (p = 0.003). Conclusions. Gender, age and professional activity significantly influence positive health behaviors. The longer duration of hypertension is, the higher is the knowledge about proper nutrition and disease prevention.

Key words: IZZ, hypertension, lifestyle, health behaviors.