Which statement is true about the Glasgow Coma Scale?

Which statement is true about the Glasgow Coma Scale?

• A. Total score ranges 3-15
• B. Eye opening is not part of the GCS
• C. Psychomotor agitation is part of GCS scoring
• D. Posture and motor behavior is the same as motor response

Answer: (A)

The score in the Glasgow Coma Scale is a single total that comes from three separate domains: eye opening, verbal response, and motor response. Each domain has its own scoring range, and you add those three numbers together to get a total between 3 and 15. The lowest possible total (no eye opening, no verbal response, no motor response) is 3, and the highest (eyes open spontaneously, oriented verbal response, and normal motor response) is 15. This is why the statement about the total score range is true. Eye opening is indeed part of the scale, with different points assigned based on whether eyes open spontaneously, to speech, to pain, or not at all. Psychomotor agitation isn’t a separate category in the scoring—motor response is assessed for the best purposeful movement (or response to pain), not a standalone agitation rating. Posture or abnormal body positioning can influence the motor score, but there isn’t a separate “posture” domain; the motor component covers responses to commands or stimuli and any abnormal motor posturing within that framework.

The score in the Glasgow Coma Scale is a single total that comes from three separate domains: eye opening, verbal response, and motor response. Each domain has its own scoring range, and you add those three numbers together to get a total between 3 and 15. The lowest possible total (no eye opening, no verbal response, no motor response) is 3, and the highest (eyes open spontaneously, oriented verbal response, and normal motor response) is 15. This is why the statement about the total score range is true.

Eye opening is indeed part of the scale, with different points assigned based on whether eyes open spontaneously, to speech, to pain, or not at all. Psychomotor agitation isn’t a separate category in the scoring—motor response is assessed for the best purposeful movement (or response to pain), not a standalone agitation rating. Posture or abnormal body positioning can influence the motor score, but there isn’t a separate “posture” domain; the motor component covers responses to commands or stimuli and any abnormal motor posturing within that framework.