Oral presentation: OP25 105-S-6 Determinants of intention to undertake physical activity among community dwelling South Asians aged 60 and over.

Introduction: Regular physical activity (PA) reduces functional disability, improves mental health and reduces the risks of premature death from heart-disease, stroke and type-2 diabetes. However, only 19% of people aged 65-74 and 6% of people aged 75+ in the UK meet the recommended targets for healthy levels of PA. PA levels are even lower for ethnic minority groups. South Asian (SA) older people are less likely to exercise compared to their Caucasian peers. They also experience greater levels of heart-disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes and mental health problems, conditions that can be prevented or improved through taking regular PA. Evidence on effective interventions tailored to minority groups needs remains inadequate. Establishing the determinants of PA intention will help to develop culturally appropriate, theory-based interventions to increase uptake and adherence of PA among SA older adults.Method: A cross-sectional survey, underpinned by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), of community-dwelling SA aged ≥60 to determine the prevalence and relative strength of attitudes related to PA-uptake among this population to inform decisions about which beliefs to target in the intervention.Results: We are currently undertaking the survey and this will be complete by the end of February 2013.Conclusions: Using theoretical frameworks, such as the TPB, are a useful starting point to look at behavioural change mechanisms which can be used to develop culturally sensitive PA interventions. This can assist in tackling health inequalities among minority groups through reducing disability and the risks of premature death from heart disease, stroke and type-2 diabetes.