What are the components of the Glasgow Coma Scale and what is the typical use?

• A. Eye opening (3), Verbal response (4), Motor response (5); total 7-15, used to gauge level of consciousness.
• B. Eye opening (5), Verbal response (6), Motor response (7); total 18-30, used to assess prognosis.
• C. Eye opening (4), Verbal response (5), Motor response (6); total 3–15, used to gauge level of consciousness after TBI.
• D. Eye opening (1), Verbal response (2), Motor response (3); total 6–60, used to determine GCS on admission.

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is how the Glasgow Coma Scale measures consciousness after a brain injury. It uses three quick checks: eye opening, verbal response, and motor response. Each domain has its own scoring: eye opening can be up to 4 (spontaneous) and 1 if there’s no eye opening; verbal response can be up to 5 (oriented) and 1 if there’s no verbal response; motor response can be up to 6 (follows commands) and 1 if there’s no movement. Adding the best scores from each domain gives a total that ranges from 3 to 15. This scale is used to gauge the level of consciousness after a traumatic brain injury and to monitor changes over time. The combination given—eye opening 4, verbal response 5, motor response 6—fits perfectly with someone who is fully conscious and able to follow commands, yielding the maximum total of 15 and aligning with gauging consciousness after TBI. The other options misstate the domain scores or the total range, which is why they’re not correct.