To identify behavioural patterns of protective and risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCD) and to explore the association between these patterns and sociodemographic characteristics.

Principal component analysis was used to identify behavioural patterns from a list of twelve protective and risk factors for NCD. Linear regression was used to explore the association between the patterns and sociodemographic characteristics.

Participants from the Brazilian Surveillance System of Risk and Protective Factors for NCD through Telephone Interviews (VIGITEL) from the years 2009 and 2010 were included.

A sample of 108 706 adults was included in the analysis.

Two behavioural patterns were identified in the analysis, a ‘prudent pattern’ and a ‘risky pattern’. The first involved mostly protective behaviours, while the second one involved essentially the risky ones. Both the less prudent and the more risky behaviour patterns were concentrated in younger men, with lower education, from the more developed region.

Public policies to decrease NCD should be aware of the possible tendency towards behavioural patterns in order to be more effective.