Introduction:

To determine the impact of health behaviours on the quality of life of patients in the surgical ward in the perioperative period.

Material and methods:

The study involved 300 adult patients (200 people with intestinal diseases and 100 people as a control group) hospitalized in a surgical ward. The study consisted of completing a self-reported questionnaire, the health behaviour inventory, and the WHOQOL-BREF qualityof-life questionnaire.

Results:

In terms of gender, women showed more positive health behaviours (p < 0.0001). As regards education, higher rates of health-promoting behaviours were presented by people with secondary and higher education than those with vocational and primary education (p < 0.0001). The highest intensity of health behaviours in relation to 4 individual categories was presented by people from the inflammatory bowel disease group. In assessing the quality of life of each of the domains, the results obtained by the respondents were at a similar level. The highest scores were obtained by respondents in each group (CHZJ – 28.860, RJG – 29.250, GK – 29.320) in the environmental domain, and the lowest scores (CHZJ – 10.560, RJG – 10.630, GK – 10.130) in the social domain.

Conclusions:

The level of health behaviours depends on gender and level of education. Women are characterized by a higher average level of health behaviours. The higher the education, the higher the indicators of health-promoting behaviours. High positive health behaviours are positively correlated with the sense of quality of life.