The WHO-5 Well-Being Index is a short, widely used questionnaire developed by the World Health Organization that measures subjective psychological well-being over the past two weeks. Unlike many screening tools that focus on symptoms of illness, the WHO-5 looks at positive well-being — how often you have felt cheerful, calm, active, well-rested, and interested in your daily life.
This calculator walks you through the five validated WHO-5 items exactly as they appear in the original questionnaire. For each statement, choose how much of the time you felt that way during the past two weeks, then press Calculate to see your raw score out of 25, your percentage score out of 100, and a clear interpretation of what your result suggests.
The tool is useful for personal reflection, therapy homework, or tracking mood between appointments. The WHO-5 is a screening aid, not a diagnostic test — if your score raises concerns, talk to a qualified healthcare professional.
📋 Rate the past two weeks
Below are five statements about positive feelings. For each one, choose the option that best describes how much of the time you have felt that way during the past two weeks.
Step-by-Step Guide
Using the WHO-5 is quick, but a little preparation helps you answer honestly. First, set aside a quiet minute and think about the past two weeks as a whole — not just today. Then work through the five statements in order. For each one, choose the option that best matches how much of the time you felt that way, from 'All of the time' down to 'At no time'.
Once all five items are answered, press Calculate to see your raw score out of 25, your percentage score out of 100, and a colour-coded interpretation. If you want to see what a best-case or worst-case result looks like, use the two quick-fill preset buttons — but for a meaningful result, clear them and answer honestly. You can also copy the summary line to paste into a note or share with a clinician.
How the Scoring Works
Each of the five WHO-5 items is scored from 0 ('At no time') to 5 ('All of the time'). The five item scores are added together to give a raw score between 0 and 25, then multiplied by 4 to convert it to a percentage score between 0 and 100.
The WHO-5 was developed at the World Health Organization's Collaborating Centre for Mental Health and has been validated across many populations, age groups, and clinical settings. It asks about positive well-being rather than symptoms, which makes it sensitive to change and useful for monitoring treatment response. Studies summarized in a 2015 systematic review by Topp and colleagues support the widely used cut-offs: scores below 50% suggest poor well-being and warrant further investigation, while scores below 28% screen positive for possible depression. The same review notes that a change of 10 percentage points is clinically significant over time. See the full review on PubMed.
Score Reference
The table below summarises the standard interpretation bands. Note that because the percentage score moves in steps of 4, values such as 49% or 51% are not possible.
| Percentage | Raw score | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 52–100% | 13–25 | Adequate well-being |
| 28–48% | 7–12 | Reduced well-being — below the recommended threshold |
| 0–24% | 0–6 | Severely reduced well-being — possible depressive symptoms |
Worked Examples
These examples show how small shifts in one or two items can move the total meaningfully — which is exactly why the 10-point change rule matters when tracking yourself from week to week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the WHO-5 a diagnostic test for depression? No. The WHO-5 is a screening and well-being measure, not a diagnostic instrument. A low score indicates that further assessment is advisable, but only a qualified professional can diagnose depression or another condition.
How often should I take it? There is no fixed schedule. Many people use it weekly or monthly to track progress in therapy, after medication changes, or during stressful life transitions. What matters is consistency: answer for exactly the past two weeks each time.
What if I am in the reduced band but feel fine? Treat it as information, not a verdict. Scores are influenced by recent sleep, illness, stress, and even the day of the week. If a low score appears once, repeat the questionnaire in a few days before drawing conclusions.
Can I use it for someone else? The WHO-5 is a self-report measure. It works best when the person fills it in for themselves; answering on behalf of a partner or child is less reliable, though parents are sometimes asked to complete it for younger children in research settings.
Limitations & Further Reading
Like all self-report questionnaires, the WHO-5 depends on honest and reasonably accurate recall. People sometimes overestimate their well-being to appear fine, or underestimate it on an unusually bad day. The scale measures psychological well-being, not all aspects of mental health — anxiety, personality, and functioning are only partially captured. Culture and language also influence how people interpret frequency words such as 'most of the time', so comparing scores across different countries should be done cautiously. For these reasons, treat a single score as a snapshot, not a diagnosis.
For more context on well-being screening and depression, read the World Health Organization's depression fact sheet.