How is the Glasgow Coma Scale commonly recorded in documentation?

• A. As the sum of eye, verbal, and motor scores
• B. As a single eye-opening score only
• C. As the verbal score alone
• D. As the motor score alone

Answer: (A)

The Glasgow Coma Scale is documented as a total score that comes from adding the eye-opening, verbal, and motor responses. This total score, ranging from 3 to 15, conveys the patient’s overall level of consciousness. In practice you’ll often see the full breakdown noted as well (for example E2 V2 M3) beside the total, but the standard documentation reflects the summed score, typically written as GCS 7/15 or simply GCS 7. Recording just one domain, like the eye-opening score alone, would miss important information about verbal and motor function, and focusing on verbal or motor alone wouldn’t capture the full level of consciousness.