WHO-5 Well-Being Index (5 items)
The 5-item WHO Well-Being Index measures subjective psychological well-being over the last two weeks. One of the most widely used brief measures in clinical and population research. Free.
Good well-being (51–100)
Subjective psychological well-being is in the healthy range.
Depression screening (≤50)
A score of 50 or below warrants further screening for depression.
Likely depression (≤28)
A score of 28 or below indicates low well-being likely to reflect depression; a diagnostic assessment is recommended.
At a glance
About the WHO-5
The WHO-5 Well-Being Index was developed by the World Health Organization and has been in wide clinical and epidemiological use since 1998. It covers five positively worded items asking how often in the past two weeks the respondent has felt cheerful, calm, active, rested, and engaged with interesting things. Each item is rated 0 (at no time) to 5 (all of the time), giving a raw score of 0–25 that is multiplied by 4 to yield a 0–100 percentage.
The WHO-5 is one of the most widely used brief measures of subjective psychological well-being. It is sensitive to change over time, making it suitable for monitoring treatment outcomes. A systematic review by Topp et al. (2015) confirmed its validity across a broad range of clinical and non-clinical populations, including primary care, diabetes, chronic pain, and general population surveys.
The instrument does not diagnose depression but identifies low well-being that warrants further clinical assessment. A percentage score of 50 or below is the established threshold for depression screening, and 28 or below suggests likely depression.
Topp, C. W., Østergaard, S. D., Søndergaard, S., & Bech, P. (2015). The WHO-5 Well-Being Index: a systematic review of the literature. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 84(3), 167–176.Scoring
The raw score (sum of 5 items, range 0–25) is multiplied by 4 to produce a percentage score (0–100). Higher scores indicate greater well-being. A score of 50 or below indicates a need for depression screening; a score of 28 or below suggests low well-being likely reflecting depression and warrants a diagnostic interview. No items are reverse-scored.
The WHO-5 is © Psychiatric Research Unit, WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, Frederiksborg General Hospital, Denmark. Free to use with attribution.
WHO-5 Well-Being Index. © Psychiatric Research Unit, WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, Frederiksborg General Hospital, Denmark. Reproduced with attribution per WHO usage guidelines.