What is the range of the Glasgow Coma Scale?

• A. 1 to 16
• B. 0 to 12
• C. 5 to 20
• D. 3 to 15

Answer: (D)

GCS measures level of consciousness by scoring three responses—eye opening, verbal, and motor. Each category has fixed limits: eye opening ranges from 1 to 4, verbal from 1 to 5, and motor from 1 to 6. When you add these together, the lowest possible total is 1+1+1 = 3, and the highest possible total is 4+5+6 = 15. So the range must be 3 to 15.

For example, opening eyes to voice (3), using confused words (4), and withdrawing to pain (4) would sum to 11, illustrating how the scores combine.

Other ranges aren’t possible because no component can score 0 or exceed its maximum, and the total cannot surpass 15.