The aim of this study was to determine the relationships among functional status, hostility, social support, illness perceptions, and health behaviors in patients with coronary artery disease using structural equation modeling. Participants comprised 215 patients with coronary artery disease who had received percutaneous coronary artery intervention or a coronary artery bypass graft in two general hospitals in Seoul, Korea. Using structured interviews with questionnaires, data accrued from July to August, 2015. Fitness of the model was verified with AMOS 21.0. As social support increased, it negatively aligned with cognitive-illness perceptions. Higher levels of hostility and greater negative cognitive-illness perceptions aligned with negative emotional-illness perceptions. Social support indirectly affected emotional-illness perceptions. Lower levels of functional status, greater social support, and more positive cognitive-illness perceptions aligned with health behaviors. Social support indirectly affected health behaviors. In conclusion, nurses should focus on coronary artery disease patients' physical functions and cognitive-illness perceptions to provide support.
Keywords: coronary artery disease; health behavior; perception; social support.