Wisconsin card sorting test and work performance in schizophrenia.

Patients with schizophrenia have long been observed to perform poorly on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Although numerous studies have established links between WCST performance and specific and diffuse structural brain abnormalities, little is known about its relationship to occupational functioning. The present study has investigated the relationship between behavior at a vocational work placement and performance on the WCST test for 89 subjects with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Multiple regression analyses that examined select WCST raw scores and that covaried out IQ and Digit Symbol Subtest scores found that Task Orientation at work was significantly related to WCST Trials to the First Category and Total Number Correct. Multiple regression analyses that examined standard scores, corrected for age and education, revealed that Task Orientation was related to Percent Conceptual Level and that Social Skills were related to Total Errors and Percent Conceptual Level. Results support the criterion-related validity of the WCST and have implications for understanding impairments in work function.