Older people have many altered reactions to disease that are based on age-related physiological changes. When the nurse observes physical indicators of illness in the older population, that nurse must remember which of the following principles?
A) Potential life-threatening problems in the older adult population are not as serious as they are in a middle-aged population.
B) Indicators that are useful and reliable in younger populations cannot be relied on as indications of potential life-threatening problems in older adults.
C) The same physiological processes that indicate serious health care problems in a younger population indicate mild disease states in the elderly.
D) Middle-aged people do not react to disease states the same as a younger population does.
Ans: B
Feedback:
Physical indicators of illness that are useful and reliable in young and middle-aged people cannot be relied on for the diagnosis of potential life-threatening problems in older adults. Option A is incorrect because a potentially life-threatening problem in an older person is more serious than it would be in a middle-aged person because the older adult does not have the physical resources of the middle-aged person. Physical indicators of serious health care problems in a young or middle-aged population do not indicate disease states that are considered "mild" in the elderly population. It is true that middle-aged people do not react to disease states the same as a younger population, but this option does not answer the question.
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