WHO-5 Well-Being Index
5-item measure of subjective well-being over the past 2 weeks
How has your well-being been lately? The WHO-5 is a short 5-item questionnaire developed by the World Health Organization to measure subjective psychological well-being. It asks about positive mood, vitality, and interest in daily life over the past two weeks. Widely used in clinical trials, population surveys, and primary care screening. Takes about 2 minutes.
What Is the WHO-5 Well-Being Index?
The WHO-5 Well-Being Index was developed by the World Health Organization in 1998 and has become one of the most widely used self-report measures of subjective well-being globally (Topp et al., 2015).
What Does the WHO-5 Measure?
Unlike symptom-focused scales, the WHO-5 asks about positive aspects of mental health:
- Positive mood: How often have you felt cheerful and in good spirits?
- Calm and relaxation: Have you felt calm and relaxed?
- Vitality: Have you felt active and vigorous?
- Freshness upon waking: Do you wake up feeling rested?
- Interest in life: Is your daily life filled with things that interest you?
Why Only 5 Items?
Because it works. The WHO-5 was distilled from the longer WHO-10, keeping the most discriminating items. At 2 minutes to complete, it fits easily into large-scale health surveys, primary care screening, and clinical trials. It serves as the core mental health indicator in the European Eurobarometer and other national health monitoring programs.
Psychometric Properties
- Internal consistency: Cronbach's α = 0.84-0.94
- Test-retest reliability: r = 0.60-0.80 (1-6 month interval)
- Factor structure: Unidimensional, CFI ≥ 0.95-0.99 across 20+ countries
- Convergent validity: r = -0.50 to -0.80 with BDI-II, r = -0.55 to -0.78 with PHQ-9
- Treatment sensitivity: Cohen's d = 1.0-1.5 for antidepressants, 0.80-1.20 for CBT
- Chinese validation: Fung et al. (2022) reported α = 0.85 in mainland Chinese students
Scoring
Six-point frequency scale (past two weeks):
- 0 = "At no time"
- 1 = "Some of the time"
- 2 = "Less than half of the time"
- 3 = "More than half of the time"
- 4 = "Most of the time"
- 5 = "All of the time"
Clinical cutoffs:
- < 50 (raw < 13): Low well-being, screening positive (sensitivity 86-93%)
- < 28 (raw < 7): Very low well-being, further evaluation recommended
Strengths and Limitations
Strengths: Extremely brief (5 items/2 minutes), free and unrestricted use, WHO-endorsed, cross-culturally validated, sensitive to treatment change, focuses on positive mental health rather than pathology.
Limitations: Single dimension limits granularity; ceiling effects in high-functioning populations; screening tool only, not diagnostic.
Note
The WHO-5 is a screening tool, not a diagnostic instrument. If your percentage score is consistently below 50, consider speaking with a healthcare professional.
*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.* *Fung, S. F., et al. (2022). Validity and psychometric evaluation of the Chinese version of the 5-Item WHO Well-Being Index. *Frontiers in Public Health*, 10, 872436.*
Scoring Guide
Each of 5 items rated 0-5 (0=At no time, 1=Some of the time, 2=Less than half, 3=More than half, 4=Most of the time, 5=All of the time). All items are forward-scored. Raw sum range 0-25. Percentage score = raw × 4 (range 0-100). Percentage <50 (raw <13) = low well-being (screening positive), percentage <28 (raw <7) = very low well-being. Note: This is a screening tool, not a diagnostic instrument.Result Interpretation
After completing the 5 questions, you'll receive an immediate, detailed report with:
- Your score — calculated automatically based on your responses
- Score interpretation — what your score means in practical terms
- Context — how your results compare to general population norms where available
All results are displayed on screen. No account or login needed.