Abstract: Objective To investigate the characteristics of Behavioral Assessment of Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS) and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) for executive function assessment in patients with cerebral infarction. Methods 706 patients with cerebral infarction were assessed with BADS, WCST and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results There was significant difference in the scores of BADS and WCST among the patients with normal cognition, mild cognition impairment and severe cognition impairment (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the scores of BADS among the patients with different focuses of infarction (P>0.05), but there was in the scores of WCST (P<0.05). Conclusion BADS and WCST can be used to assess the executive impairment in the patients with cerebral infarction, and the focuses may affect the outcome of WCST.

Key words: cerebral infarction, executive function, Behavioral Assessment of Dysexecutive Syndrome, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test