Introduction:
Cardiovascular diseases are a major cause of health and social problems worldwide. Poor acceptance of illness is considered a prognostic factor for worse satisfaction with life.

Aim:
To determine the influence of selected factors on the degree of disease acceptance and the level of life satisfaction in patients treated in cardiac wards, as well as to assess whether the level of disease acceptance affects the feeling of life satisfaction and vice versa.

Material and methods:
The study was conducted in a group of 104 patients hospitalised in cardiac units. To evaluate the acceptance of illness and satisfaction with life the standardised Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS) and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) were used.

Results:
The mean value of overall illness acceptance was 22.88 ±2.86, which indicated an average level of illness acceptance among the patients. Average satisfaction with life was reported by as many as 50.96% (n = 53) of the patients. The level of acceptance of illness depended on age (p < 0.001), marital status (p = 0.002), living with family (p = 0.001), educational background (p = 0.021), and frequency of hospital treatment (p = 0.04). The variables marital status (p < 0.001) and living with family (p < 0.001) had a statistically significant effect on the degree of satisfaction with life. The acceptance of illness was significantly positively correlated with SWLS (p < 0.001). Patients declared an average degree of acceptance of illness and satisfaction with life.

Conclusions:
The relationship between acceptance of illness and satisfaction with life should be further investigated.