Which of the following statements is true about analgesic medications for older adults?
a. Opioids are less effective in older patients than in younger patients.
b. Stool softeners and laxatives should be used with opioids.
c. Over-the-counter NSAIDs are generally harmless.
d. The dose limit for acetaminophen is dif-ficult to reach for older adults.
B
Opioids often cause constipation and necessitate bowel stimulation to prevent constipation. A bowel regimen should be instituted at the same time as opioid treatment. Because of changes in metabolism with aging, opioids have a greater and longer-lasting analgesic effect in older patients. NSAIDs can cause gastrointestinal bleeding, kidney and liver damage, and drug interactions with potentially fatal results. The maximum daily dose of acetaminophen is 4000 mg, and the limit is lower for patients with kidney or liver failure and patients who use alcohol. A typical dose is two 500-mg ("extra-strength") tablets.
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Which of the following best describes what insurance companies did to decrease their constantly increasing costs? (Select all that apply.)
a. Did not cover any illnesses that were diagnosed before the person (or his or her employer) purchased insurance b. Limited coverage to only certain services, eliminating any that were experimental, nontraditional, or too costly c. Reimbursed only the care that was requested by the patient's primary physician d. Limited providing insurance to companies who hired mainly young, healthy persons e. Required preapproval before expensive services were used f. Ceased coverage on any person who used an exorbitant number of services, whenever possible
Factors that affect the pharmacokinetics of lipophilic medications in older adults include:
a. greater adipose tissue ratio to body mass. b. decreased total body water. c. increased glomerular filtration rate. d. increased creatinine clearance.
The nurse points out that the fact that humans do not contract such diseases as distemper, as dogs do, is due to the human's _____ immunity
a. passive b. acquired c. innate d. passive natural
A method of sampling in which all subjects in the sample have an equal chance of being assigned to either the treatment group or the control group is
a. between-group design. b. within-group design. c. random assignment. d. random sampling.