The nurse is performing a vision assessment on an older patient who is having difficulty reading small print. What best explains this finding?

Question

1. Non-reactive to light
2. Weak eye muscles
3. Lack of peripheral vision
4. Altered accommodation

Answer 1

4. Altered accommodation

Explanation: 1. Sensitivity to light is caused by an inability of the pupil to adapt to varying degrees of light.
2. Difficulty reading small print is not related to weak eye muscles but a loss of pliability in the lens.
3. Narrowing of the field of vision describes a change in peripheral vision, which is not associated with accommodation.
4. Accommodation is the ability of the lens to change shape and focus images clearly. This loss of pliability in the lens contributes to the decrease in near vision, which generally occurs around the age of 40. This would be demonstrated by the patient's difficulty reading small print.