Aging Concepts and Sensory Changes

Question 1

Age-related macular degeneration

Answer 1

Eye disease that blurs central vision

Question 2

Cataracts

Answer 2

Cloudy area in lens
Leads to blurriness

Question 3

Diabetic Retinopathy

Answer 3

Eye condition that can cause vision loss and blindness
Leads to patches of vision

Question 4

Glaucoma

Answer 4

Group of eye diseases that can cause vision loss and blindness by damaging optic nerve
Leads to loss of peripheral vision

Question 5

Major source of income for older adults

Answer 5

Social Security

Question 6

Primary source of health insurance for older adults

Answer 6

Medicare

Question 7

What group is most likely to be the poorest older adults

Answer 7

Hispanic women living alone

Question 8

What percent of adults over 65 are still working

Answer 8

18%

Question 9

What percentage of older adults live alone?

Answer 9

27%

Question 10

Traditionalists

Answer 10

Born from 1922-1945
Values respect for authority, conformity, discipline, sacrifice, and hard work

Question 11

Baby boomers

Answer 11

Born from 1946-1964
Values optimism, involvement, personal gratification and growth, drive, personal fulfillment, communication, and questioning authority
Have more years of formal education
Politically active group

Question 12

Generation X

Answer 12

Born from 1965-1980
Values fun, balance, informality, risk taking, skepticism, and self-reliance

Question 13

Generation Y/Millenials

Answer 13

Born from 1981-2000
Values confidence, realism, socialization, multitasking, collectivism, and entrepreneurship

Question 14

Effect of decreased subcutaneous fat around eye

Answer 14

Leads to decreased near vision

Question 15

Effect of decreased eye tone and elasticity

Answer 15

Leads to poor eye coordination

Question 16

Effect of decreased strength of eye muscles

Answer 16

Leads to distortion of images

Question 17

Effect of weakening of levator palpebrae superioris

Answer 17

Leads to problems with upward gaze, convergence, poor eye coordination, and difficulty focusing

Question 18

Effect of decreased cornea transparency

Answer 18

Leads to blurred vision, decreased cornea sensitivity, and decreased visual field

Question 19

Effect of cornea thickening, flattening, become more rigid, and less smooth

Answer 19

Leads to astigmatism and blurred vision

Question 20

Effect of degeneration of sclera, pupil, and iris

Answer 20

Leads to compromised night vision

Question 21

Effect of increased density and rigidity of lens

Answer 21

Leads to loss of color sensitivity to green, blue, and violet

Question 22

Effect of pupil size decreases and senile miosis (more fixed pupil)

Answer 22

Leads to impaired depth perception (appears further than they are) and driving ability

Question 23

Effect of increases in connective tissue, sclerosis of blood supply, and muscle weakness of eye

Answer 23

Leads to decreases in iris dilation, gradual loss of visual acuity, difficulty seeing in low lighting

Question 24

Effect of decreases in rod density and retinal nerve fiber thinning

Answer 24

Leads to narrower field of vision, difficulty seeing in low light, problems with light/dark adaptation, and increased sensitivity to glare

Question 25

Effect of decreased lens elasticity

Answer 25

Leads to decreased ability to change shape for objects of different distances which results in difficulty seeing near objects, and difficulty reading print

Question 26

Interventions for low vision

Answer 26

Use voice or touch to get attention and face adult when speaking
Adequate lighting with light source directed behind adult or on side of better seeing eye for reading or writing
Avoid fluorescent lighting
Remove clutter
Enlarge educational/reading material
Instructions on non-glossy paper
High contrast print and paper
At least 14 point font
Enhance contrast

Question 27

Effect of lost/damaged sensory hair cells

Answer 27

Lead to difficulty hearing higher frequencies or tinnitus

Question 28

Effect of nerve cell diminution of cochlear ganglia

Answer 28

Leads to diminished ability for pitch discrimination

Question 29

Effect of degeneration of central auditory pathways

Answer 29

Leads to reduced speech recognition and reception

Question 30

Effect of lost neurotransmitters related to hearing

Answer 30

Leads to loss of speech discrimination

Question 31

Presbycusis

Answer 31

Age-related hearing loss from cumulative loud sounds

Question 32

Conductive hearing loss

Answer 32

Blockage of acoustic energy that prevents conduction of sound to the inner ear due to problems with external or middle ear, ear infections, or ear wax

Question 33

Sensorineural hearing loss

Answer 33

Hearing loss that results from loss or damage to sensory hair cells or nerves with better air conduction than bone conduction
Not correctable

Question 34

Central auditory processing disorder

Answer 34

Ears and brain do not work well together
Ears can hear but brain has trouble processing the sounds

Question 35

Tinnitus

Answer 35

Leads to perception of buzzing, whistling, or ringing in ears
May be managed with CBT/counseling, decreased salt, nicotine, and caffeine intake, auditory habituation, and masking (use of a device that produces a sound to cover up buzzing)

Question 36

Intervention for strategies for hearing loss

Answer 36

Face when talking and get attention
Speak clearly
Do not shout
Rephrase if not understood
Closed captioning, assisted listening devices
Decrease background noise
Alerting devices with lower pitched rings
Amplified doorbells or phones

Question 37

Changes in taste and smell

Answer 37

Decline in ability to identify and discriminate sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami
Decline in thickness and dryness of oral mucosa
Anosmia (lack of smell), hyposmia (decrease in smell), dysosmia (distortion of smell), ageusia (absence of taste), hypogeusia (decreased sensitivity to tastes), dysgeusia (distortion of taste), phantosmia (smell hallucination), phantogeusia (taste hallucination)
Loss of neurons in olfactory tract/bulb
Degeneration of nasal mucosa sensory cells

Question 38

Importance of taste and smell

Answer 38

Eating may become less pleasurable
Smell is important for safety

Question 39

Intervention for chemosensory deficits

Answer 39

Flavor amplifications and variety
Good oral care before meals
Counseling due to assess overal wellbeing

Question 40

Skin changes with aging

Answer 40

Atrophic changes affect sensation of touch and pressure, pain and temperature
Epidermis becomes dryer, thinner, and stiffer
Degeneration of Pacinian and Meissner’s corpuscles
Decreased volume of sweat glands
Weak, decreased blood vessels
Hypodermis stores less fat
Speed and intensity in which touch/pressure are perceived affected by decreased response time
Deep pain perception decreases

Question 41

Intervention for touch and pressure deficits

Answer 41

Educate on care of skin
Use vision to prevent skin breakdown
Compensate with vision
Change position every 30-45 minutes

Question 42

Temperature changes

Answer 42

Reduction in number of thermoreceptors, decreased number of sweat glands, less effective cutaneous vasoconstrictor response leads to decreased ability to regulate temperature

Question 43

Intervention for temperature deficits

Answer 43

Educate on layering and moving to cooler or warmer environment
Decrease or increase activity level
Moving to cooler or warmer environments