Question

What physical assessment findings will you see in the elderly that differs from the young adult?

What are some signs and symptoms of dehydration?

Discuss which electrolyte laboratory values are affected when a patient has dehydration and the causes.

After reading the patient history, what concerns do you have for this patient and why?

Explain with some detail the difference between delirium and dementia.

Why is the Braden Scale important for this patient?

Answer 1

Answer: The physical assessment findings in elderly patients are mostly different from young adults as elder people are weak as compared to young adults, multidisciplinary assessment is being performed to evaluate an older person's functional ability as how they perform their work, physical health includes the strength they have to perform their own work, blood pressure, heart rate etc are usually abnormal as compared to young adults. Their cognition and mental health, and socioenvironmental circumstances also describes the health of an elderly patient.

Dehydration occurs when the body has minimum water to function properly as dehydration can prevent body from making enough saliva and hence cause bad breathe. Dry skin is one of the major sign of the dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. Weakness and muscles fatigue occurs due to dehydration. A headache and fever are common in dehydration.

Delirium is an adverse drug reaction in an individual with Alzheimer's. It causes problems with attention, thinking, memory, and emotion. Delirium can change over the course of hours or days and it can be treated whereas dementia develops over time, with a slow progression of cognitive decline as person's ability to think, remember, and communicate with others gets weaker over time.