Background & Objectives: Functional status in patients with CAD has impact on the health and recovery. Therefore, it is necessary to identify determinants of functional status. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to determine the structural relationships among functional status, health beliefs, BMI and cardiac self-efficacy in patients with CAD.

Methods: For this reason, in a retrospective and cross-sectional study, 185 patients with CAD among patients undergoing CABG and PTCA from Tehran Heart Center were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria by available sampling method. The diagnosis was made by a cardiologist. Data were gathered by the research designed health beliefs questionnaire, cardiac self-efficacy scale, and Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ). Pearson`s correlation and path analysis were used to analyze the data.

Results: The path analysis results showed that in one hand, the direct effect of vulnerability and severity beliefs on Control symptoms (p<0.01) and Maintain function (p<0.01), in the other hand, direct effect of on Control symptoms and Maintain function on functional status (p<0.01) is significant. As well as, vulnerability and severity beliefs have indirect effect on functional status by Control symptoms and Maintain function (p<0.05). BMI has effect on functional status by Control symptoms (p<0.05) but not by Maintain function.

Conclusion: Thus, these results suggest that health beliefs and cardiac self-efficacy are determinants of functional status. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the health beliefs and cardiac self-efficacy roles in disease outcome and psychological intervention.