The nurse is bathing an 80-year-old man and notices that his skin is wrinkled, thin, lax, and dry. This finding would be r/t which factor in the older adult?

A) Increased vascularity of the skin
B) Increased numbers of sweat and sebaceous glands
C) An increase in elastin and a decrease in subcutaneous fat
D) An increased loss of elastin and a decrease in subcutaneous fat

An accumulation of factors place the aging person at risk for skin disease and breakdown: the thinning of the skin, a decrease in vascularity and nutrients, the loss of protective cushioning of the subcutaneous layer, a lifetime of environmental trauma to skin, the social changes of aging, an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, and the chance of immobility. With aging there is a decrease in the vascularity, number of sweat and sebaceous glands, and elastin not an increase.