title: Iatrogenesis in the elderly. Factors of immobility.
abstract: Mobility of elderly patients is a consequence of the interaction between factors including biological health, sensory-perceptual capacity, motor skills, cognitive capacity, and ego-strength; and environmental resources including physical and architectural features, medical regimens, institutional policies, resident and staff characteristics, and social support availability. Impaired mobility, whether self- or other-imposed, places the elderly at risk for a multitude of negative physiological and psychological consequences that can affect health, well-being, and quality of life. Understanding the basic mechanisms underlying the physiological and psychological consequences of immobility, the relative time-frame in which they can develop, and the concomitant changes associated with aging provides the basis for interventions aimed at preventing or minimizing them. A multitude of factors that influence the elderly's state of mobility are within nursing's realm of practice. Although elderly patients may present a special challenge, the negative consequences of immobility can be avoided, to a significant extent, with astute and vigilant nursing management.
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Mobily
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Skemp Kelley
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003248:Constipation / Q000209:etiology* / Q000451:nursing; D005851:Geriatric Nursing; D006801:Humans; D007049:Iatrogenic Disease; D007103:Immobilization / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000209:etiology* / Q000451:nursing