Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: Normative data and experience

BACKGROUND: The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) has been increasingly employed as a clinical neuropsychological instrument. However, in India the use of WCST is still in a relatively preliminary stage. AIM: To analyse the utility of WCST in the Indian population. METHODS: Fifty-three subjects in the age group of 20–50 years, comprising both men and women, were recruited for the study. The normality was established by administering the General Health Questionnaire as a screening instrument to evaluate their health status. The WCST was administered and the norms for various dimensions were established; these were compared with those of normal healthy individuals from the West as per the WCST manual. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The significance of differences and the experience of administration have been described. The present study found highly significant differences between the means on almost all WCST scores among the Western and the Indian sample, except for the number of correct responses.