Health education is the sphere of activities whose aim is to make an individual an active participant in the process of developing their interests and knowledge concerning health and shaping health behaviours. It is a common research issue in nursing. The definition of health education allows researchers to analyse empirically at least two aspects of the problem, i.e. the knowledge of the examined and their health behaviours.

The aim of the study is to present the most frequent research issues in the field of health education in nursing studies. The method used was a review of the literature. The collected material was analysed and evaluated using the Concept Analysis Worksheet for Empirical Studies. The subject base included source material published between 1990 and 2001. In general, 139 research studies concerning the issues of health education in the selected groups were collected and analysed.

Despite the difficulties and controversies related to the notion, the essence and cognition of health behaviour and the choice of suitable methods and techniques, 54 out of 139 papers (38.84%) analysed health behaviour in the selected groups.

The remaining studies dealt mainly with the issues examining the patient’s knowledge and theoretical preparation of educators, essential factors in health education.

The review revealed that the subjects of research studies of many authors involved the following health promoting fields: nicotine addiction, physical activity, alcoholism, reduction of excessive stress, diet, body weight control and proneness to intoxication.