A study of symptom distress, health locus of control, and coping resources of aging post-polio survivors.

Nearly one-half of the estimated 1.63 million American patients who survived the polio epidemics of the 1940s and 1950s are re-experiencing symptoms of the acute illness. This exploratory study of 125 aging post-polio survivors examined the differences of symptom distress, health locus of control, and coping resources for survivors who had and those who had not incurred a chronic physical disability following the acute phase of poliomyelitis. The Symptom Rating Test, the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale, and the Coping Resources Inventory were used. No significant differences were found between disability groups concerning symptom distress, health locus of control, or coping resources. However, significant negative correlations were found between coping resources and both the quantity and severity of symptom distress. The differences found between perceived health locus of control and both coping resources and symptom distress were marginally significant.

Adapting the environment to age-related sensory losses.

Alteration of the environment to compensate for age-related sensory losses as well as common pathological sensory losses is necessary to maintain the independent living of many elderly people. Thorough knowledge of the changes in vision, taste, smell, kinesthesia, touch, and hearing that accompany the aging process is essential to the nurse practitioner for accurately assessing environmental alteration. By applying Dorothea Orem's Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory, this article illustrates ways for the nurse practitioner to prevent hazards, adapt institutional settings, and support successful independent living. It focuses on adapting the environment to the normal sensory physiological changes that occur with aging, and identifies some common pathological processes that concur with these losses.