Abstract
Background Exercise is consistently related to physical and psychological health benefits in older adults. The present study aimed to investigate the cognitive determinants of physical activity (PA) based on social cognitive theory (SCT) in older adults in Iran.Methods A cross-sectional survey among 550 older adults was conducted on more than 60-year-old adults, selected randomly from health centers in Isfahan City. Data collection was done using demographic and cognitive (SCT) questionnaires, and the Physical Activity Questionnaire (PASE). For data analysis, Pearson's correlation test and linear regression were used with SPSS.23 software.Results The prevalence of physical activity among older adults was low (7.09%). Although the results revealed a significant correlation between self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, outcome values, social support, and physical activity (p < 0.001), the linear regression test showed self-efficacy as the only significant explanatory among the cognitive variables in older adults (β = 0.14, p < 0.01).Conclusion These results suggest that self-efficacy is the most important factor affecting PA behavior among SCT constructs in older adults. Healthcare professionals should try more to increase older adults’ perception of their abilities to do PA instead of just training them to do PA.