Information on the Glasgow Coma Scale

The Glasgow Coma Scale is a common scoring system that physicians and emergency responders use to asses a patient's mental consciousness. The test is based on a 15-point scoring scale. Lower scores indicate more severe conditions with scores of 3 to 8 generally seen as indicating a comatose state.

How it Works

• The scale measures a patient's status in three areas: the eyes' response to movement, the response to verbal prompts and motor skills.

History

• The scale was developed by neurosurgeons at the University of Glasgow in Scotland who wanted to create an objective scale to measure the severity of brain trauma after serious injury, according to the Internal Journal of Trauma Nursing.

Eye Movement

• The test assesses eye movement on a scale from a patient unable to open their eyes to one who can open them spontaneously and on command.

Verbal Movement

• Patients are graded from whether they can speak at all to being able to converse normally.

Motor Skills

• Motor skills are judged on a scale ranging from normal movement to none.