What is the most appropriate nursing intervention for a patient with presbycusis?

A. Accelerated loss of neurons in the brain

Neuron loss occurs gradually. "Accelerated" implies rapid degeneration, which would be pathological, not normal aging.

B. Increased conduction speed of neurons

This is incorrect; aging is associated with decreased conduction speed due to demyelination and slower synaptic transmission.

C. Decrease of short-term memory

Short-term memory loss is a common age-related change in cognition, even in healthy aging.

D. Gradually declining loss of intellectual capability

While processing speed may decline, intellectual capacity (such as vocabulary and long-term memory) is generally preserved in normal aging.

A. Obtain the health history from the client’s medical record.

This provides objective and historical data, not subjective information from the client.

B. Leave the client a questionnaire to fill out in private.

Many older adults may have vision or literacy issues. Also, this does not encourage interaction needed for accurate subjective data collection.

C. Allow sufficient time for the client to respond to questions.

Older adults may need more time to process information and recall experiences. Patience supports effective subjective data collection.

D. Talk to the family members to obtain the client’s health history.

Family input may be helpful, but subjective data should come from the client when possible to reflect their experience.