WHODAS 2.0 supersedes WHODAS II and is an altogether different instrument that is grounded in the conceptual framework of the ICF. It integrates an individual's level of functioning in major life domains and directly corresponds with ICF's "activity and participation" dimensions.
WHODAS 2.0 was developed through a collaborative international approach with the aim of developing a single generic instrument for assessing health status and disability across different cultures and settings.
The collaborative international research involved in developing WHODAS 2.0 included:
Depending on the information needed, the study design and the time constraints, the user may choose between multiple versions with different options for administration:
36-item version
Provides most detail
Allows to compute overall and 6 domain-specific functioning scores
Available as interviewer-, self-, and proxy-administered forms
Average interview time: 20 min.
12-item version
Useful for brief assessments of overall functioning in surveys
Allows to compute overall functioning scores
Explains 81% of the variance of the 36-item version
Available as interviewer-, self-, and proxy-administered forms
Average interview time: 5 min.
Self-administration: A paper-and-pencil version of WHODAS 2.0 can be self-administered.
Interview: WHODAS 2.0 can be administered in person or over the telephone. General interview techniques are sufficient
to administer the interview in this mode.
Proxy: Sometimes it may be desirable to obtain a third-party view of functioning such as; family members, caretakers or other observers.
There are two basic options for computing the summary scores for the WHODAS 2.0 short and full versions
Simple: the scores assigned to each of the items – “none” (0), “mild” (1) “moderate”
(2), “severe” (3) and “extreme” (4) – are summed. This method is referred to as simple scoring because the scores from each of the items are simply added up without recoding or collapsing of response categories;
thus, there is no weighting of individual items. This approach is practical to use as a hand-scoring approach, and maybe the method of choice in busy clinical settings or in paper-pencil interview situations. As a result, the simple sum of
the scores of the items across all domains constitutes a statistic that is sufficient to describe the degree of functional limitations.
Complex: The more complex method of scoring is called “item-response-theory”
(IRT) based scoring. It takes into account multiple levels of difficulty for each WHODAS 2.0 item. It takes the coding for each item response as “none”, “mild”, “moderate”, “severe” and “extreme”
separately, and then uses an algorithm to determine the summary score by differentially weighting the items and the levels of severity. The SPSS algorithm is available from WHO. The scoring has three steps:
To download scoring templates please click the following links:
Please note that the question responses for WHODAS 2.0 have not changed (No Difficulty, Mild Difficulty, Moderate Difficulty, Severe Difficulty, and Extreme Difficulty or Cannot Do), but the numbers assigned to them have (using a 5 point scale from 0-4 rather than from 1-5). This is in response to feedback received, and will not change the final score provided that you use the correct scale for the correct method. Use the 0-4 scale for these templates, only.
WHODAS 2.0 produces domain-specific scores for six different functioning domains – cognition, mobility, self-care, getting along, life activities (household and work) and participation.
In all cultures and populations tested, factor analysis revealed a robust factor structure on 2 levels
WHODAS 2.0 was developed through a collaborative international approach, with the aim of developing a single generic instrument for assessing health status and disability across different cultures and settings.
The collaborative international
research involved in developing WHODAS 2.0 included:
Online resources
Please note that many of these translations have been provided by partners, organizations, and private individuals. WHO cannot be responsible for the quality of translations not produced in WHO. These language versions are made available as a courtesy for use.
To license WHODAS 2.0, such as for including WHODAS 2.0 in an electronic records or data capture system or reproducing it in any way, please go to Licensing WHO Classifications.