WHO-5 wellbeing check

What the WHO-5 measures

The WHO-5 Well-Being Index is five short statements about how you have felt over the last two weeks. It was first presented in its current form in 1998 through the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Europe, and it has since become one of the most widely used wellbeing questionnaires anywhere, translated into more than 30 languages.

Most screening questionnaires ask about problems. The WHO-5 does the opposite. Every statement describes something good: feeling cheerful and in good spirits, calm and relaxed, active and vigorous, waking up fresh and rested, and having a daily life filled with things that interest you. A low score comes from the absence of those good days, not from a list of symptoms.

In 2015, Christian Topp, Søren Østergaard, Susan Søndergaard and Per Bech reviewed 213 studies that used the WHO-5 (Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, volume 84, pages 167 to 176). They concluded that it is a valid measure of wellbeing, works well for tracking change over time, and performs well as a first screen for depression across a wide range of settings.

How WHO-5 scoring works

Each statement has six answers, scored from 5 down to 0:

Answer	Points
All of the time	5
Most of the time	4
More than half of the time	3
Less than half of the time	2
Some of the time	1
At no time	0

Adding the five answers gives a raw score from 0 to 25. Multiplying it by 4 turns it into a score out of 100, which is the number this page shows. Higher is better. Because of the multiplication, scores move in steps of 4: 48, 52, 56 and so on.

Score out of 100	Raw score	Band
52-100	13-25	Adequate wellbeing
32-48	8-12	Low wellbeing
0-28	0-7	Very low wellbeing

How to read your score

A score below 52 (a raw score below 13) is the line commonly used to flag low wellbeing. It tells you that good days have been scarce lately. It does not tell you why: grief, illness, poor sleep, a new baby, a brutal stretch at work and depression can all pull the score down.

A score of 28 or below (raw 7 or below) is often used as a sign that screening for depression should follow, and scores at this level are often seen alongside depression in screening studies. If yours is in that range, a conversation with your doctor or a licensed mental health professional is the next step, and the PHQ-8 mood check gives you something concrete to bring along. Some versions of the scoring guidance also suggest following up when any single statement is answered "At no time" or "Some of the time", even if the total looks fine.

For tracking, a change of 10 points or more between checks is generally treated as meaningful. Since the score moves in steps of 4, that means a change of at least 12 points in practice. A shift of 4 or 8 is within the normal wobble of an ordinary fortnight.

Why a positively worded check suits regular use

Symptom checklists ask you to rate how bad things are. Taken every week, that can feel heavy, and some people avoid them for exactly that reason. The WHO-5 asks how often good things have happened, which makes it gentler to repeat and easier to keep up as a habit. It takes about a minute.

That makes it a practical way to see whether a change is helping: a new schedule, a move to a different team, more sleep, time off, or starting counseling. Take it every two to four weeks, note the score and the date, and look at the line rather than any one point.

Some employers include the WHO-5 in anonymous staff surveys and look only at group averages. Used that way, it can show whether a program is moving anything, as long as individual answers never reach a manager. Measuring a workplace mental health program covers how to do that responsibly.

Limits

The WHO-5 is a screening and reflection tool, not a diagnosis. It measures how you have been, not what is causing it. It covers only the last two weeks and relies on your own reading of each statement. Because it asks only about positive states, it does not ask about specific symptoms or about thoughts of harming yourself. If you are having those thoughts, call or text 988 at any hour, or call 911 if you are in immediate danger.

If your score stays low across two or three checks, or something simply feels wrong, talk to a doctor, a licensed counselor or your employee assistance program (EAP). If the low mood seems tied to your job, the work burnout test may help you put words to it.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good WHO-5 score?

Anything from 52 up is in the adequate range. There is no perfect score, and few people answer "All of the time" to everything. The more useful question is how your score compares with your own earlier results.

How often should I take the WHO-5?

Every two to four weeks works well for most people, or before and after a change you want to evaluate. Because the statements cover two weeks, taking it more often than that mostly measures the same period twice.

Is the WHO-5 a depression test?

Not exactly. It measures wellbeing, and a low score can have many causes. It is used in research as a first screen, because very low scores often go with depression, but only a doctor or licensed professional can tell you whether depression is part of the picture.