The Glasgow Coma Scale total score is calculated from which components?

• A. Eye opening response, Verbal response, and Motor response
• B. Eye opening response, Verbal response, and Posture and motor behavior
• C. Eye opening response, Motor response, and Posture and motor behavior
• D. Verbal response, Motor response, and Posture and motor behavior

Answer: (A)

Three observable aspects are used to gauge level of consciousness: eye opening, verbal response, and motor response. Each aspect is scored separately based on how the patient responds, and these scores are added to yield the overall GCS score. The eye opening domain assesses whether the patient opens eyes spontaneously, to speech, to pain, or not at all. The verbal domain assesses orientation and ability to produce coherent speech, ranging from oriented conversation to incomprehensible sounds. The motor domain looks at purposeful movement in response to commands or to pain. Because the total GCS comes from these three components only, any option that includes posture or other behaviors is not part of the GCS calculation. Understanding that you sum the eye, verbal, and motor scores clarifies why this combination is correct and why the other options misrepresent what feeds into the total score. The maximum score reflects full alertness and intact brain function across all three domains.