Question 1

You are working with Sheldon, your 72-year-old hip replacement patient, on dressing skills. While Sheldon is putting on his pants, he complains that his non-surgical hip has been aching for days. How should you respond?

Accepted Answer

You tell Sheldon that he may have more pain in his non-surgical hip due to putting more weight on that side while he is walking. Surgery or injury to one limb will usually force a person to compensate for movement using the unaffected limb. This may cause increased pain and stiffness due to the extra movements and imbalance of the body while engaged in activity.

Question 2

Which of the following symptoms is not characteristic of anorexia nervosa?

Accepted Answer

Binging is not characteristic of anorexia nervosa. Instead, this behavior is a characteristic of bulimia.

Question 3

Max is a 23-year-old rehabilitation patient with a new diagnosis of C7-T1 spinal cord injury. During therapy sessions, Max displays flat affect and little interest in participating in activities. He is often sleeping when you go to see him for therapy and requires encouragement to participate. What do you conclude?

Accepted Answer

Max is depressed due to his spinal cord injury, which results in functional limitations. People who sustain traumatic injury that permanently limits function often go through periods of depression, as they adjust to their new circumstances.

Question 4

Hunter, your 9-year-old student with ADHD, has suddenly become irritable and aggressive toward his classmates. He complains of headaches. His mother informed you that Hunter saw the doctor the week before and his medication was adjusted. What do you suspect is the cause of Hunter's change in behavior?

Accepted Answer

You suspect that Hunter's medication dose is too high. Stimulant medication can sometimes raise blood pressure, which causes headaches and nausea. The side effects of stimulants also include nervousness and insomnia. All of these factors could contribute to Hunter's change in behavior.

Question 5

Your OT department has written the following short-term treatment goal for a hip fracture patient: Will put on underwear and pants independently, using adaptations, in two weeks. What components of this task will you need to analyze as you begin to work with this patient?

Accepted Answer

The components you need to analyze include pulling underwear over feet, pulling pants over feet, standing up, maintaining standing balance, pulling up underwear, pulling up pants, and fastening pants. The ability to stand and maintain standing balance, as well as the ability to manage clothing fasteners, must be analyzed in addition to the actual donning of pants and underwear.

Question 6

Would you consider teaching ADL in a nursing home or home health setting?

Accepted Answer

Teaching ADL in a home health setting is a better option because you can work with the patient in a familiar setting with his/her own furniture and clothing. Patients are usually able to learn and generalize skills more quickly and thoroughly if they practice those skills in a familiar setting, using their own possessions.

Question 7

Alex, your hand patient, is recovering from a compound wrist fracture on his dominant side. He asks you if he will ever be able to bowl again. What factors will you need to consider when answering his question?

Accepted Answer

The location of Alex's fracture would be directly relevant to his ability to resume bowling. His ability to drive to the bowling alley would not be necessary, as Alex could have someone drive him to the bowling alley. The time his league plays would not be relevant either.

Question 8

Missy is a 6-year-old kindergarten student with a diagnosis of athetoid cerebral palsy. You have been working on independent self-feeding during lunch time in the therapy room. Missy's teacher would like her to start eating in the lunch room with her classmates. What aspect of the environment will you need to consider as you transition Missy to eating in the lunch room?

Accepted Answer

You will need to consider the noise and activity level in the lunch room. Children with athetoid cerebral palsy are prone to distraction and startled reflexes in response to loud noises. The noisy, active lunch room environment could affect Missy's ability to pay attention to her food and control her upper extremities due to these factors.

Question 9

Your patient Arlene is scheduled to be discharged from the nursing home in two days to go to her own home. What would be an appropriate activity to use to incorporate hand strengthening as you prepare her for discharge?

Accepted Answer

Preparing a small meal incorporates hand strengthening through chopping, stirring, and opening packages or cans. This activity would help prepare Arlene for discharge to her home.

Question 10

A 2-year-old client needs to work on fine motor skills. What activity would you select?

Accepted Answer

Finger feeding cereal or cracker pieces would be motivating to a young child and would incorporate the fine motor skills of two-point and three-point pinch. Buttoning a shirt is too high of a fine motor skill for a client at this age. Playing with cars or in the sand incorporate fine motor skills, but are less precise and more difficult to grade.

Question 11

Marie, a sheltered workshop client, wants to work on a job where she must coat metal lawn mower parts with a protectant. She must hang each part on a hook, dip the part in a liquid coating, and hang the part up to dry. What skill is the most important when considering Marie's ability to complete this job task?

Accepted Answer

Marie's ability to sequence a three-step task. The other skills listed are related to environment and job set up. These skills are more easily adapted than the ability to sequence a three-step task.

Question 12

When selecting an activity for a client, you must analyze the steps of the activity, the setting where the activity will take place, and _________

Accepted Answer

The age and gender, level of interest, and the starting skill level of the person doing the activity will all affect your selection of an activity.

Question 13

Howard is a 93-year-old cardiac patient who lives with his daughter. She reports that she works during the day and takes care of their home. You should make sure to address the following skill areas with Howard, except:

Accepted Answer

Howard would not be required to complete light house cleaning at home since his daughter takes care of that task.

Question 14

Mary reports that she was independent with ADLs before she came to the nursing home. But she is having significant difficulty now. Her diagnosis list includes diabetes, peripheral neuropathy, and macular degeneration. Why do you think Mary is having so much difficulty with ADLs?

Accepted Answer

Mary is not familiar with her surroundings and cannot see well enough to locate her clothes or toiletries. Mary has macular degeneration and peripheral neuropathy, so both her vision and her sense of touch are impaired. These conditions would make it more difficult for Mary to adjust to a new setting.

Question 15

Your 3-year-old student with a diagnosis of seizure disorder is not progressing well in therapy. What might be the reason?

Accepted Answer

Your student might not be doing well because he receives physical therapy just before OT. Physical therapy can be strenuous and may be tiring your student out considerably, affecting his ability to participate in OT activities.

Question 16

If your 3-year-old student with a seizure disorder is becoming too tired in physical therapy to participate in OT, what could you propose to the physical therapy assistant?

Accepted Answer

You would ask the physical therapy assistant if she would like to co-treat the student. Co-treating the student would help conserve the student's energy and allow the student to tolerate both therapies.

Question 17

Susan, your 53-year-old hand patient, tells you that she thinks the fine motor tasks you have her do in therapy are silly. What could you do to make therapy more interesting for Susan?

Accepted Answer

Find out what Susan's interests are and provide fine motor tasks that are aligned with them. Susan will be more vested in working on fine motor tasks if they are interesting and meaningful to her.

Question 18

Your 89-year-old home health patient, Boyd, is able to toilet himself, dress himself, and make himself microwavable food upon discharge from the hospital. You emphasize to Boyd's wife the importance of allowing Boyd to complete these tasks himself, but she keeps hovering over him and doing things for him. What do you expect Boyd's condition to be when he returns for a follow-up visit in two weeks?

Accepted Answer

Boyd's ability to complete toileting, dressing, and microwave meal preparation will have declined. Family members who want to be helpful have good intentions. But by helping, they often interfere with a patient's ability to maintain skills regained in therapy.

Question 19

You see a 9-month-old infant with a congenital disorder at her home. She loves her siblings and follows them everywhere. What would you ask the mother to do to insure that the infant is able to participate in your therapy sessions?

Accepted Answer

Allow one of the siblings to assist during therapy sessions to motivate the infant. Having one of the infant's siblings assist with therapy might be motivating to the infant and might facilitate progress. Allowing all of the siblings to participate or watch, however, would probably be too distracting for the infant.

Question 20

It is time to report progress for Emma, your 75-year-old stroke patient. Which of the following measurements will you defer to your OT department?

Accepted Answer

You would defer the manual muscle test to your OT department. The other three measurements follow exact protocols, while the manual muscle test is a subjective measurement that requires the judgment of the OT department.

Quiz 1: Acquiring Information