FAU Advanced Health Assessment Practice Test

If a 24-year-old woman presents with signs of fatigue and nausea but negative cramping or bleeding, which condition might you suspect?

1. True pregnancy

2. False pregnancy

3. Ectopic pregnancy

4. Polyhydramnios

The correct answer is: False pregnancy

The symptoms of fatigue and nausea in the context provided can suggest a condition related to pregnancy. In this case, the most appropriate condition to suspect is a false pregnancy, also known as pseudocyesis. This is a psychological condition where a woman experiences symptoms of pregnancy, including nausea and fatigue, despite not being biologically pregnant. A false pregnancy can lead to a genuine belief of being pregnant, resulting in physical manifestations such as hormonal changes that cause nausea and fatigue, mirroring the sensations of a true pregnancy. The lack of cramping or bleeding further supports this condition because, in either true or ectopic pregnancies, these symptoms are more commonly observed if there are complications or if the pregnancy is not progressing normally. Other conditions like true pregnancy would typically present with more definitive signs such as hormonal changes detectable via a pregnancy test or additional symptoms. Ectopic pregnancy generally presents with abdominal pain, and polyhydramnios involves an excess of amniotic fluid, which would not be relevant to this scenario unless there were established signs of pregnancy first. Therefore, in the absence of discernible indications of a typical pregnancy or associated complications, false pregnancy stands out as the likely condition based on the provided symptoms.