PORTH'S
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY:
CONCEPTS OF
ALTERED HEALTH
STATES — PRACTICE
EXAM BASED ON
VERIFIED TEST
BANK CONTENT
FROM THE 10TH AND
,11TH EDITIONS BY
TOMMIE L. NORRIS
Section 1: Concepts of Health and Disease
1. At an international nursing conference, many discussions focused on the WHO
views on health. Which statements represent the WHO definition of health? (Select
all that apply)
A) Interests in keeping the elderly population engaged in book reviews and word games
during social time
B) Increase in the number of chair aerobics classes provided in skilled care facilities
C) Interventions geared toward keeping elderly patients with diabetes under tight blood
glucose control
D) Providing transportation for renal dialysis patients to and from hemodialysis sessions
E) Providing handwashing teaching sessions to young children
Correct Answers: A, B, C, E
Rationale: The WHO defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social
well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity." Book reviews facilitate
mental and social well-being; chair aerobics facilitates physical well-being; tight diabetes
control facilitates physical well-being despite chronic illness; and handwashing prevents
disease spread. Providing transportation for dialysis addresses access rather than well-
being itself .
2. A community health nurse teaches graduates about factors influencing health.
Which determinant of health is OUTSIDE the Healthy People 2020 focus?
A) Client has diverse background and practices alternative therapies to minimize stress
B) Client has family history of cardiovascular disease and remains noncompliant
with treatment
C) Client has good career with exceptional preventive health care benefits
D) Client lives in an affluent, clean, suburban community with access to health care
,Rationale: Healthy People 2020 focuses on promoting good health (alternative
therapies), achieving health equity (health care benefits), and promoting good health
(clean community with access). Noncompliance with treatments for high cholesterol
despite family history does not meet the "attaining lives free of preventable disease and
premature death" determinant .
3. A physician is differentiating diseases caused by abnormal molecules vs.
molecules that cause disease. Which patient demonstrates consequences of
molecules that cause disease?
A) A 31-year-old woman with sickle cell anemia receiving a transfusion
B) A 91-year-old woman with ischemic stroke from familial hypercholesterolemia
C) A 19-year-old man with cystic fibrosis exacerbation
D) A 30-year-old homeless man with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) and
HIV positive
Rationale: PCP is an example of the effect of a molecule that directly contributes to
disease (the organism itself causes infection). Sickle cell anemia, familial
hypercholesterolemia, and cystic fibrosis are examples of effects of abnormal molecules
caused by genetic mutations .
4. Which aspect of a client's situation characterizes PATHOGENESIS rather than
etiology?
A) Client exposed to Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterium
B) Client has increasing serum ammonia levels due to liver cirrhosis
C) Client admitted with effects of methyl alcohol poisoning
D) Client with multiple skeletal injuries secondary to motor vehicle accident
Rationale: Pathogenesis refers to the progressive and evolutionary course of disease,
such as the increasing ammonia levels that accompany liver disease. Bacteria, poisons,
and traumatic injuries are examples of etiologic factors .
5. A myocardial infarction patient attends cardiac rehabilitation. Which statement
verifies understanding of coronary artery disease pathogenesis?
A) "All I have to do is stop smoking, and then I won't have any more heart attacks."
B) "My artery was clogged by fat, so I will need to stop eating fatty foods."
C) "Sounds like this began because of inflammation inside my artery that made it
easy to form fatty streaks."
D) "If I do not exercise regularly, blood pools in the veins causing a clot that stops blood
flow."
, Rationale: The true etiology of CAD is unknown; however, pathogenesis relates to the
progression of the inflammatory process from a fatty streak to the occlusive vessel
lesion. Risk factors include smoking, high-fat diet, and lack of exercise .
6. Which aspect of a client's health status is best characterized as a SYMPTOM
rather than a sign?
A) Client's oxygen saturation is 83% by pulse oximetry
B) Client notes increased work of breathing when lying supine
C) Client has diminished breath sounds to lower lung fields bilaterally
D) Client's respiratory rate is 31 breaths/minute
Rationale: Symptoms are subjective complaints by the person experiencing the health
problem, such as complaints of breathing difficulty. Oxygen levels, listening to breath
sounds, and respiratory rate are all objective, observable signs of disease .
Section 2: Cellular Function and Adaptation
7. During a discussion on cellular components and their function, a student asked
the instructor the purpose of messenger RNA (mRNA). Which is the most accurate
answer?
A) Transports amino acids to the site of protein synthesis
B) Acts as an inner nuclear support membrane for a rigid network of protein filaments
that bind DNA to the nucleus
C) Performs an active role of protein synthesis, where mRNA molecules direct the
assembly of proteins on ribosomes in the cytoplasm
D) Assists cells in forming neoplastic progression by altering the response of chromatin
in the nuclear matrix
Rationale: The nucleus is the site for synthesis of three types of RNA that move to the
cytoplasm and carry out the actual synthesis of proteins. Messenger RNA copies and
carries the DNA instructions for protein synthesis to the cytoplasm. Ribosomal RNA is
the site of actual protein synthesis; transfer RNA transports amino acids to the site of
protein synthesis .
8. A type of cellular adaptation in which there is a decrease in cell size is referred
to as:
A) Hypertrophy
B) Metaplasia
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY:
CONCEPTS OF
ALTERED HEALTH
STATES — PRACTICE
EXAM BASED ON
VERIFIED TEST
BANK CONTENT
FROM THE 10TH AND
,11TH EDITIONS BY
TOMMIE L. NORRIS
Section 1: Concepts of Health and Disease
1. At an international nursing conference, many discussions focused on the WHO
views on health. Which statements represent the WHO definition of health? (Select
all that apply)
A) Interests in keeping the elderly population engaged in book reviews and word games
during social time
B) Increase in the number of chair aerobics classes provided in skilled care facilities
C) Interventions geared toward keeping elderly patients with diabetes under tight blood
glucose control
D) Providing transportation for renal dialysis patients to and from hemodialysis sessions
E) Providing handwashing teaching sessions to young children
Correct Answers: A, B, C, E
Rationale: The WHO defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social
well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity." Book reviews facilitate
mental and social well-being; chair aerobics facilitates physical well-being; tight diabetes
control facilitates physical well-being despite chronic illness; and handwashing prevents
disease spread. Providing transportation for dialysis addresses access rather than well-
being itself .
2. A community health nurse teaches graduates about factors influencing health.
Which determinant of health is OUTSIDE the Healthy People 2020 focus?
A) Client has diverse background and practices alternative therapies to minimize stress
B) Client has family history of cardiovascular disease and remains noncompliant
with treatment
C) Client has good career with exceptional preventive health care benefits
D) Client lives in an affluent, clean, suburban community with access to health care
,Rationale: Healthy People 2020 focuses on promoting good health (alternative
therapies), achieving health equity (health care benefits), and promoting good health
(clean community with access). Noncompliance with treatments for high cholesterol
despite family history does not meet the "attaining lives free of preventable disease and
premature death" determinant .
3. A physician is differentiating diseases caused by abnormal molecules vs.
molecules that cause disease. Which patient demonstrates consequences of
molecules that cause disease?
A) A 31-year-old woman with sickle cell anemia receiving a transfusion
B) A 91-year-old woman with ischemic stroke from familial hypercholesterolemia
C) A 19-year-old man with cystic fibrosis exacerbation
D) A 30-year-old homeless man with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) and
HIV positive
Rationale: PCP is an example of the effect of a molecule that directly contributes to
disease (the organism itself causes infection). Sickle cell anemia, familial
hypercholesterolemia, and cystic fibrosis are examples of effects of abnormal molecules
caused by genetic mutations .
4. Which aspect of a client's situation characterizes PATHOGENESIS rather than
etiology?
A) Client exposed to Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterium
B) Client has increasing serum ammonia levels due to liver cirrhosis
C) Client admitted with effects of methyl alcohol poisoning
D) Client with multiple skeletal injuries secondary to motor vehicle accident
Rationale: Pathogenesis refers to the progressive and evolutionary course of disease,
such as the increasing ammonia levels that accompany liver disease. Bacteria, poisons,
and traumatic injuries are examples of etiologic factors .
5. A myocardial infarction patient attends cardiac rehabilitation. Which statement
verifies understanding of coronary artery disease pathogenesis?
A) "All I have to do is stop smoking, and then I won't have any more heart attacks."
B) "My artery was clogged by fat, so I will need to stop eating fatty foods."
C) "Sounds like this began because of inflammation inside my artery that made it
easy to form fatty streaks."
D) "If I do not exercise regularly, blood pools in the veins causing a clot that stops blood
flow."
, Rationale: The true etiology of CAD is unknown; however, pathogenesis relates to the
progression of the inflammatory process from a fatty streak to the occlusive vessel
lesion. Risk factors include smoking, high-fat diet, and lack of exercise .
6. Which aspect of a client's health status is best characterized as a SYMPTOM
rather than a sign?
A) Client's oxygen saturation is 83% by pulse oximetry
B) Client notes increased work of breathing when lying supine
C) Client has diminished breath sounds to lower lung fields bilaterally
D) Client's respiratory rate is 31 breaths/minute
Rationale: Symptoms are subjective complaints by the person experiencing the health
problem, such as complaints of breathing difficulty. Oxygen levels, listening to breath
sounds, and respiratory rate are all objective, observable signs of disease .
Section 2: Cellular Function and Adaptation
7. During a discussion on cellular components and their function, a student asked
the instructor the purpose of messenger RNA (mRNA). Which is the most accurate
answer?
A) Transports amino acids to the site of protein synthesis
B) Acts as an inner nuclear support membrane for a rigid network of protein filaments
that bind DNA to the nucleus
C) Performs an active role of protein synthesis, where mRNA molecules direct the
assembly of proteins on ribosomes in the cytoplasm
D) Assists cells in forming neoplastic progression by altering the response of chromatin
in the nuclear matrix
Rationale: The nucleus is the site for synthesis of three types of RNA that move to the
cytoplasm and carry out the actual synthesis of proteins. Messenger RNA copies and
carries the DNA instructions for protein synthesis to the cytoplasm. Ribosomal RNA is
the site of actual protein synthesis; transfer RNA transports amino acids to the site of
protein synthesis .
8. A type of cellular adaptation in which there is a decrease in cell size is referred
to as:
A) Hypertrophy
B) Metaplasia
