The Glasgow Coma Scale assesses which components?

• A. Pupil reactivity and motor response.
• B. Eye opening and verbal and motor responses.
• C. Level of consciousness and verbal response.
• D. Intracranial pressure (ICP) and level of consciousness.

Answer: (B)

The Glasgow Coma Scale is built from three response categories: eye opening, verbal response, and motor response. Each category is scored separately (eye opening 1–4, verbal 1–5, motor 1–6) and then added together to give the overall GCS score. This structure specifically measures a patient’s level of consciousness through observable behaviors in different domains, rather than assessing pupil reactivity or intracranial pressure directly. Pupil reactivity and ICP are important parts of a broader neurologic assessment, but they are not components of the GCS. So the components being assessed are eye opening, verbal response, and motor response.