Objective To explore the effect of the nursing intervention based-on protection motivation theory on cardiovascular health in community older adults. Methods Totally 85 community older adults were divided into an intervention group （n=43） and a control group （n=42） using coin tossing according to living area. The control group received routine community nur-sing, while the intervention group received nursing intervention based on protection motivation theory.The health behavior change, the physiological and biochemical indexes and the score of cardiovascular health of the two groups were assessed before the intervention, 3 months and 6 months after the intervention. Results At 6 months after the intervention, the standard reaching rate of low salt diet and regular exercise in the intervention group were significantly higher than those in the control group （P＜0.05 for both）.The intervention effect, time effect and the intervention × time interaction effect in body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, the total score of cardiovascular health and the score of cardiovascular health behavior were significant beween the two groups （P＜0.05,P＜0.01）.The cholesterol was compared between the two groups, the intervention effect, the interven-tion × time interaction effect were significant （P＜0.05,P＜0.01）. Conclusion The nursing intervention based on the protection motivation theory can promote healthy behavior change for older aults, reduce their body mass index, blood pressure and choleste-rol, and improve their cardiovascular health.