Patient Care Technician (PCT) AAH Practice Exam

Disable ads (and more) with a membership for a one time $2.99 payment

Prepare for the Patient Care Technician AAH Exam with our comprehensive exam. Use flashcards and multiple-choice questions, each equipped with hints and explanations. Get ready to excel!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

Practice this question and more.

What medical condition occurs when the heart beats too slowly?

Bradycardia
Syncope
Tachycardia
Arrhythmia

The correct answer is: Syncope

The condition characterized by a slow heart rate is known as bradycardia. This occurs when the heart beats less than 60 times per minute, which can lead to insufficient blood flow to the body and may cause symptoms like fatigue, dizziness, or fainting. In contrast, syncope refers to a temporary loss of consciousness, often related to decreased blood flow to the brain, which can result from conditions like bradycardia but is not synonymous with it. Tachycardia, on the other hand, denotes a fast heart rate, exceeding 100 beats per minute, which is the opposite of bradycardia. Arrhythmia encompasses a broader range of heart rhythm irregularities, including both slow and fast heart rates, making it a more general term. Understanding these distinctions helps clarify that bradycardia specifically indicates a consistently slow heartbeat.