adults' tolerance to stress and the reasons behind it, factors which act as moderators should be
examined. Objective: Determine factors associated with distress tolerance among community dwelling
older adults. Setting: Somoha health insurance outpatient clinics, Alexandria Governorate, Egypt.
Subjects: 168 older adults were recruited. Tools: Three tools were used for data collection: 1) Sociodemographic
and clinical data structured interview schedule of community dwelling older adults, 2)
Factors associated with distress tolerance structured interview schedule of community dwelling older
adults, and 3) The Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS). Results: The present study findings showed that
the study subjects showed low scores of distress tolerance on the whole which is significantly related
to different individual variables. Conclusion: Distress tolerance among the study subjects is
significantly associated with personal characteristics, living arrangement, health history, life style
patterns, psychological status, and spiritual activities. Recommendations: The gerontological nurses
should be oriented to all factors which could affect the older adults' appraisal of possibly stressful
situations and their physical, emotional, and behavioral responses to stress and act to control them.