Exam-Ready MCQs with Clinical
Rationales
📘 Table of Contents
Unit I: The Healthy Older Adult
1. Changes with Aging
2. Health Promotion
3. Exercise in Older Adults
4. Nutritional Support in the Older Adult
5. Settings of Care (new chapter in this edition)
Unit II: Assessment
6. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment
7. Symptoms and Syndromes (covers common geriatric
syndromes and their atypical presentations)
Unit III: Treating Disorders
(Returns to system-based chapters with signal-symptoms, SORT
evidence ratings, in-text case studies)
8. Dermatologic Disorders
9. Head, Neck, and Face Disorders
10. Cardiovascular Disorders
,11. Respiratory Disorders
12. Peripheral Vascular Disorders
13. Gastrointestinal Disorders
14. Urologic and Renal Disorders
15. Gynecologic Disorders
16. Musculoskeletal Disorders
17. Central and Peripheral Nervous System Disorders
18. Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders
19. Hematologic Disorders
20. Psychosocial Disorders
Unit IV: Complex Illness
21. Polypharmacy
22. Chronic Illness and the APRN
23. Palliative Care and End-of-Life
, Chapter 1 “Changes With Aging” from Advanced Practice
Nursing in the Care of Older Adults, 3rd Ed.
1. An 82-year-old patient presents with mild exertional
dyspnea. Vital signs are stable. Which physiologic change of
aging best explains a slight decrease in maximal aerobic
capacity?
A. Increased arterial stiffness
B. Elevated resting heart rate
C. Enhanced alveolar elasticity
D. Increased bone marrow production
Answer: A. Increased arterial stiffness
Rationale: Arterial stiffness (loss of vascular compliance)
increases cardiac afterload and reduces stroke volume during
exercise, diminishing VO₂ max. Resting heart rate typically
decreases or remains unchanged (B incorrect). Alveolar
elasticity declines with age (C opposite). Bone marrow activity
declines, not increases (D incorrect).
2. An 80-year-old woman’s serum creatinine is 0.6 mg/dL (53
µmol/L), and her estimated GFR is 55 mL/min/1.73m². Which
statement is most accurate regarding renal aging?
A. Serum creatinine overestimates renal function.
B. GFR calculation is unreliable in older adults.
C. A normal creatinine always indicates preserved renal
function.
D. Tubular secretion increases with age.