5-item measure of subjective psychological well-being. ≈ 1 min to complete. Free with attribution.
WHO-5 (WHO Well-Being Index) is a validated clinical instrument used to assess 5-item measure of subjective psychological well-being.. It is most often used for 5-item measure of subjective psychological well-being.. The instrument contains 5 items. Typical administration time is ≈ 1 min.
Source / attribution: Free to use with citation
5-item measure of subjective psychological well-being. WHO-5 is part of standard practice in this setting because it provides a structured, replicable assessment that can be tracked over time and compared across patients or visits.
Like all screening or assessment instruments, WHO-5 is a structured aid — not a diagnostic test in isolation. Results should be interpreted alongside history, examination, and clinical context. Where a score crosses an actionable threshold, the next step is typically a more detailed clinical evaluation rather than a definitive diagnosis.
Answer all 5 items below to see your WHO-5 score and interpretation.
Each item is scored on a 6-point scale (0–5). Your score updates live as you answer.
All scoring runs in your browser. No data is sent anywhere — close the tab and the answers are gone.
Sum all 5 items scored 0-5, then multiply by 4 to get 0-100 percentage score. Higher = better well-being.
Scoring notes: Sum all 5 items scored 0-5, then multiply by 4 to get 0-100 percentage score. Higher = better well-being.
The cutoffs below are drawn from the published validation literature. Always interpret in clinical context.
| Score range | Band | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 0–28 | Poor well-being | Consider intervention |
| 29–50 | Moderate well-being | Monitor |
| 51–100 | Good well-being | Maintain |
This is an illustrative walkthrough, not a real patient. Follow the same four steps with your own answers — or use the live calculator at the top of this page.
Read each question and choose the response that best fits. Each response has a number next to it — that number is the item's score. The example below uses illustrative answers.
| # | Item | Example response | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I have felt cheerful and in good spirits | All of the time | 5 |
| 2 | I have felt calm and relaxed | All of the time | 5 |
| 3 | I have felt active and vigorous | All of the time | 5 |
| 4 | I woke up feeling fresh and rested | All of the time | 5 |
| 5 | My daily life has been filled with things that interest me | All of the time | 5 |
Add up all the item scores you noted in Step 1.
5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 25
Find the row in the interpretation table whose range contains your total:
Total = 25 falls between 0 and 28 → Poor well-being
Poor well-being. Consider intervention
A score is one input alongside history and examination. WHO-5 supports clinical judgment — it does not replace it.
Psychometric figures are drawn from the validation literature and may vary across clinical populations and translations.
If WHO-5 doesn't fit your context, related instruments in wellbeing include:
| Scale | Measures | Items | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| FS | 8-item measure of self-perceived success in relationships, self-esteem, purpose, and optimism. | 8 | ≈ 2 min |
| SPANE | 12-item measure of positive and negative emotional experiences. | 12 | ≈ 2 min |
| MLQ | 10-item measure assessing presence of meaning and search for meaning in life. | 10 | ≈ 3 min |
| GQ-6 | 6-item measure of individual differences in the disposition to experience gratitude. | 6 | ≈ 2 min |
| SHS | 4-item global measure of subjective happiness using absolute ratings and social comparisons. | 4 | ≈ 1 min |
| AHS | 12-item measure of dispositional hope with agency and pathways subscales. | 12 | ≈ 3 min |
| PWB-18 | 18-item short form assessing six dimensions of psychological well-being: autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. | 18 | ≈ 5 min |
| PGIS | 9-item measure of active, intentional engagement in personal growth and self-change. | 9 | ≈ 2 min |
WHO-5 (WHO Well-Being Index) is a validated instrument that assesses subjective psychological well-being. It is designed for clinicians, medical students, evidence-synthesis researchers. It takes about 1 min to complete, and the 5 items are summed to produce a total score.
WHO-5 typically takes about 1 min to administer. The exact duration varies a little depending on whether it is self-administered or completed with a clinician. Its brief format is part of what makes it practical for routine clinical use and for repeat administration when tracking change over time.
WHO-5 contains 5 items. Item scores are summed to produce the total. Scores run from 0 to 100, grouped into 3 interpretation bands from ‘Poor well-being’ up to ‘Good well-being’.
On the WHO-5 (total score 0–100), scores of 51–100 fall in the ‘Good well-being’ band — interpreted as: Maintain. The full ladder is: 0–28 — Poor well-being: Consider intervention.; 29–50 — Moderate well-being: Monitor.; 51–100 — Good well-being: Maintain. A higher score reflects a more severe presentation, and crossing a cutoff is a prompt to step up assessment or care — but these bands are screening thresholds, not diagnoses.
Scores of 0–28 fall in the ‘Poor well-being’ band: Consider intervention. A low score is reassuring but does not by itself rule out the underlying condition — if symptoms or clinical suspicion persist, reassess over time or use a complementary evaluation rather than relying on the number alone.
WHO-5 has reported Cronbach's α of 0.92 in validation samples and test–retest reliability of 0.82. Sensitive to change; used in clinical trials. In practical terms, a Cronbach’s α around 0.92 indicates excellent internal consistency (the items hang together well), and a test–retest reliability of 0.82 means scores are strongly stable when the scale is repeated without real clinical change.
WHO-5 is free to use with attribution — clinical, educational, and research use is permitted provided the original source is credited. If you publish results or reproduce the scale, include the citation to the source paper.
Bech, P., Olsen, L. R., Kjoller, M., & Rasmussen, N. K. (2003). Measuring well-being rather than the absence of distress symptoms. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 1(29), 1-6. This is the original publication for the WHO-5 — the reference to cite when reporting results.
No. WHO-5 is a structured assessment aid, not a diagnostic test. Its proper role is clinical assessment of subjective psychological well-being — it standardizes assessment and flags who needs closer evaluation, but the result must be weighed alongside history, examination, and clinical context. When a score conflicts with your clinical impression, clinical judgment takes precedence; treatment decisions should never rest on a screening score alone.
WHO-5 is supported by the following peer-reviewed sources: