What are the three main sections of the Glasgow Coma Scale?

• A. Eye opening, Verbal response, Motor response
• B. Eye opening, Verbal response, Blood pressure
• C. Eye opening, Pain response, Movement
• D. Verbal response, Motor response, Temperature

Answer: (A)

The Glasgow Coma Scale assesses level of consciousness by looking at three sections of responsiveness: eye opening, verbal response, and motor response. Each section gets its own score (eye opening ranges from no opening to spontaneous opening, verbal response from no words to oriented conversation, and motor response from no movement to obeying commands). The total score, adding the three sections, ranges from 3 to 15 and helps quantify how severely consciousness is affected after head injury.

The other options mix in signs that aren’t part of this scoring system—for example, vital signs like blood pressure or temperature are important for overall assessment but aren’t individual sections of the GCS. A separate “pain response” isn’t a standalone section; the motor response section covers how a patient responds to pain or commands. Thus, eye opening, verbal response, and motor response are the three core components.