Skip to main content

Table 2 The WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0)

From: Use of The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a conceptual framework and common language for disability statistics and health information systems

WHODAS 2.0 is a practical, generic assessment instrument that can measure health and disability at population level or in clinical practice [21]. WHODAS 2.0 captures the level of functioning in six domains of life:

• Domain 1: Cognition – understanding and communicating

• Domain 2: Mobility – moving and getting around

• Domain 3: Self-care – attending to one’s hygiene, dressing, eating and staying alone

• Domain 4: Getting along – interacting with other people

• Domain 5: Life activities – domestic responsibilities, leisure, work and school

• Domain 6: Participation – joining in community activities, participating in society.

The six domains were selected after a careful review of existing research and survey instruments, and a cross-cultural applicability study.

For all six domains, WHODAS 2.0 provides a profile and a summary measure of functioning and disability that is reliable and applicable across cultures, in all adult populations.

WHODAS 2.0 provides a common metric of the impact of any health condition in terms of functioning. Being a generic measure, the instrument does not target a specific disease – it can thus be used to compare disability due to different diseases. WHODAS 2.0 also makes it possible to design and monitor the impact of health and health-related interventions. The instrument has proven useful for assessing health and disability levels in the general population and in specific groups (e.g. people with a range of different mental and physical conditions). Furthermore, WHODAS 2.0 makes it easier to design health and health-related interventions, and to monitor their impact.

WHODAS 2.0 is grounded in the conceptual framework of the ICF. All domains were developed from a comprehensive set of ICF items and map directly onto the ICF “Activities and Participation” component. As in the ICF, WHODAS 2.0 places health and disability on a continuum, with disability defined as “a decrement in each functioning domain”. In addition, WHODAS 2.0, like the ICF, is etiologically neutral; that is, it is independent of the background disease or previous health conditions. This feature makes it possible to focus directly on functioning and disability, and allows the assessment of functioning separately from the disease conditions.

There are several different versions of WHODAS 2.0, which differ in length and intended mode of administration. The full version has 36 questions and the short version 12 questions; these questions relate to functioning difficulties experienced by the respondent in the six domains of life during the previous 30 days. The different versions can be administered by a lay interviewer, by the person themselves or by a proxy (i.e. family, friend or carer). The 12-item version explains 81% of the variance of the more detailed 36-item version. For both versions, general population norms are available.