World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (36-item version, self-administered)
The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) is a robust, cross-culturally validated measure of functioning and disability.
- Questions
- 36
- Duration
- 20 min
- Original title
- World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 — version 36 items, auto-administrée
- Adaptation
- World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (36-item version, self-administered)
- Authors
- Üstün T.B., Kostanjsek N., Chatterji S., Rehm J. (Organisation mondiale de la Santé)
- Created
- 2010
The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) is a robust, cross-culturally validated measure of functioning and disability. Built on the framework of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), this 36-item self-administered version helps clinicians capture a comprehensive picture of the day-to-day impact of health conditions, including physical illnesses, mental health disorders, and emotional distress.
Unlike symptom-specific scales, the WHODAS 2.0 isolates functional impairment across six key domains of daily living. It allows clinicians to measure subjective difficulty in completing tasks independently of the specific underlying diagnosis. Because it is highly sensitive to change, it serves as a valuable tool for establishing a baseline at intake and repeatedly measuring the functional outcomes of clinical interventions, complementing the standard CBT model with a clear metric of real-world recovery.
Example result
Fictitious result, computed from a sample set of answers.
The WHODAS 2.0 is a standardized generic questionnaire developed by the World Health Organization to measure functioning and disability in adults, regardless of diagnosis. It yields specific scores for six domains of functioning: cognition, mobility, self-care, getting along with others, life activities (household and work/school), and social participation. The full version includes 36 items assessing functioning difficulties experienced by the respondent across these six domains over the past 30 days. The tool is particularly useful for objectifying psychosocial and somatic disability, documenting the severity of limitations, tracking progress during treatment, and comparing functioning levels across different disorders.
Domain 2 — Mobility
10/ 20
Assesses activities such as standing, moving around inside the home, getting out of the home and walking a long distance.
items 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
10
020
Domain 1 — Cognition (understanding and communication)
10/ 24
Assesses communication and thinking activities; specific areas assessed include concentrating, remembering, problem solving, learning and communicating.
items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
10
024
Domain 4 — Getting along with others
10/ 20
Assesses interactions with other people and difficulties that might be encountered with this life domain due to a health condition.
items 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
10
020
Domain 6 — Social participation
17/ 32
Assesses social dimensions, such as community activities; barriers and hindrances in the world around the respondent; and problems with other issues, such as maintaining personal dignity.
items 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36
17
032
Domain 3 — Self-care
10/ 16
Self-care domain, assessing the ability to attend to personal hygiene, dressing and eating, and to live alone.
items 12, 13, 14, 15
10
016
Domain 5.2 — Life activities (work/school)
7/ 16
Life activities domain regarding work and school responsibilities.
items 25, 26, 27, 28
7
016
Domain 5.1 — Life activities (household)
6/ 16
Life activities domain regarding household responsibilities.
items 21, 22, 23, 24
6
016
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What the test measures
The WHODAS 2.0 evaluates functional impairment across six distinct domains of daily life over a 30-day recall period:
- Cognition: Understanding, communicating, learning, and concentrating.
- Mobility: Moving around inside the home, standing, and walking long distances.
- Self-care: Washing, dressing, eating, and staying alone safely.
- Getting along: Interacting with others, maintaining friendships to mitigate loneliness, and participating in sexual activities.
- Life activities: Completing household responsibilities and, if applicable, performing work or school tasks.
- Participation: Engaging in community activities, navigating societal barriers, and managing the emotional or financial impact of health conditions.
This scale is intended for use with adults to evaluate the real-world impact of both physical and mental health conditions.
When and why to use it
Clinicians typically use the WHODAS 2.0 to complement symptom-based assessments with a clear measure of functional disability. Common clinical indications include:
- Intake baseline: To map out how severely a health condition limits the patient's daily autonomy and baseline resilience.
- Treatment planning: To identify specific functional deficits (such as cognitive overload or social withdrawal) that require targeted behavioral support or explicit problem-solving.
- Monitoring change: To track objective improvements in functioning as therapy progresses, allowing clinicians to evaluate coping strategies through their real-world return on investment.
- Multidisciplinary coordination: To provide a standardized metric of impairment when communicating with medical teams, occupational therapists, or occupational health services managing psychosocial risks at work.
Using a validated functional measure shifts the therapeutic focus from simply reducing symptoms to genuinely restoring the patient's capacity to navigate their life.
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The questions
- This questionnaire asks about difficulties due to health conditions. By health conditions, I mean diseases or illnesses, or other health problems that may be short or long lasting, injuries, mental or emotional problems, and problems with alcohol or drugs. Think back over the past 30 days and answer these questions, thinking about how much difficulty you had doing the following activities. For each question, please give only one answer. (If you work - employed, volunteer, self-employed - or go to school, complete the questions on work and school; otherwise, skip them.)1. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have concentrating on a task for ten minutes?This item probes the ability to sustain attention on a single task.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 2. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have remembering to do important things?This item evaluates prospective memory and daily recall.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 3. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have analyzing and finding solutions to everyday problems?This item assesses basic executive functioning and everyday problem-solving.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 4. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have learning a new task, for example, learning how to get to a new place?This item captures the capacity to acquire and apply new practical information.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 5. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have understanding what people are saying?This item measures auditory comprehension in daily interactions.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 6. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have starting or maintaining a conversation?This item evaluates the ability to initiate and sustain verbal exchanges.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 7. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have standing for long periods, like 30 minutes?This item probes physical endurance for static upright postures.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 8. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have going from a sitting to a standing position?This item assesses the physical mobility required to transition from sitting to standing.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 9. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have moving around inside your home?This item captures indoor mobility and domestic navigation.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 10. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have getting out of your home?This item evaluates the ability to physically leave the residence.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 11. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have walking a long distance, like one kilometer?This item measures locomotor endurance over longer distances.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 12. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have washing your whole body?This item assesses autonomy in complete bodily hygiene.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 13. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have getting dressed?This item probes the ability to put on clothing independently.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 14. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have with eating?This item measures functional independence during meals.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 15. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have staying by yourself for a few days?This item evaluates the capacity to safely manage independent living for a few days.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 16. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have dealing with people you don't know?This item captures social functioning when interacting with strangers.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 17. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have maintaining a friendship?This item evaluates the relational capacity to sustain existing platonic bonds.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 18. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have getting along with people close to you?This item assesses emotional regulation and relational stability with intimate or familial contacts.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 19. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have making new friends?This item probes the social initiation required to form new interpersonal connections.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 20. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have with your sexual activities?This item measures functional or emotional disruption to sexual intimacy.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 21. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have taking care of your household responsibilities?This item evaluates overall engagement in domestic chores.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 22. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have doing your important household tasks well?This item assesses the quality and effectiveness of domestic task execution.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 23. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have finishing all the household tasks you needed to do?This item probes task completion and stamina for domestic duties.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 24. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have doing your housework as quickly as needed?This item measures the speed and efficiency of performing household chores.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 25. Because of your health condition, in the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have with your daily work/school activities?This item evaluates general participation in occupational or academic routines.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 26. Because of your health condition, in the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have doing your most important work/school task correctly?This item assesses the quality of performance in primary work or study roles.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 27. Because of your health condition, in the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have doing all the work you had to do?This item probes the ability to handle the full volume of required work or academic assignments.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 28. Because of your health condition, in the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have doing your work as quickly as needed?This item measures the pacing and time management of occupational or academic tasks.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 29. In the last 30 days, how much of a problem was it for you to engage in community activities (e.g., parties, religious or other activities) in the same way as others?This item captures engagement and inclusion in broader community events.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 30. In the last 30 days, how much of a problem did you have carrying out your plans because of barriers or hindrances in the world around you?This item assesses the impact of environmental or societal obstacles on daily life.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 31. In the last 30 days, how much of a problem was it to live with dignity despite the attitudes and actions of others?This item evaluates the psychosocial impact of external stigma or discrimination.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 32. In the last 30 days, how much time did you spend on your health condition or its consequences?This item quantifies the time burden required to manage the health condition.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 33. In the last 30 days, how much were you emotionally affected by your health condition?This item probes the secondary emotional distress caused by the primary health condition.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 34. In the last 30 days, how much of a financial drain has your health condition been on you or your family?This item measures the economic burden resulting from the health condition.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 35. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty has your family had because of your health condition?This item assesses the perceived collateral impact of the health condition on the family system.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
- 36. In the last 30 days, how much difficulty did you have doing things by yourself to relax or for pleasure?This item evaluates the capacity to engage in leisure and self-directed restorative activities.
- None
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme/cannot do
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