To score the WHODAS 2.0 simply, rate each item from 0 (no difficulty) to 4 (extreme difficulty or cannot do) and add them up. The 12-item version gives 0 to 48 and the 36-item version gives 0 to 144 (0 to 128 if the four work items don't apply). Higher scores mean greater disability. There is no official cut-off.
That is the quick answer. What catches clinicians out is that "a WHODAS score" can mean three different numbers: a raw simple sum, a percentage of the maximum, or a 0 to 100 score from the WHO's item response theory (IRT) algorithm. Each has its own norms, and they can't be swapped for one another.
What does the WHODAS 2.0 measure?
The WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 is a generic measure of functioning and disability, built on the WHO's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). It applies across physical and mental health conditions.
It asks about difficulty over the past 30 days in six domains:
- Cognition: understanding and communicating (6 items)
- Mobility: moving and getting around (5 items)
- Self-care: hygiene, dressing, eating and staying alone (4 items)
- Getting along: interacting with other people (5 items)
- Life activities: household (4 items) and work or school (4 items)
- Participation: joining in community activities, and the impact of the condition on the person and their family (8 items)
It comes in self-report, interviewer and proxy forms. According to the WHO, the 36-item version takes about 20 minutes as an interview and the 12-item version about 5.
How do you score the WHODAS 2.0 12-item version?
Rate each of the 12 items (S1 to S12) from 0 to 4 and add them up, for a total between 0 and 48. The WHO's own 12-item scoring template does this and then divides by 48, so it shows the result as a percentage.
A worked example: a client rates standing, household tasks, learning, community activities, emotional impact, concentrating, walking, washing, dressing, strangers, friendships and work as 2, 1, 3, 2, 3, 2, 0, 0, 0, 2, 1 and 2. The simple sum is 18 out of 48, or 37.5% on the WHO template.
The 12-item version only gives an overall score. It has two items per domain, but the WHO manual says that if you want domain scores you need the full 36-item version.
Should items be scored 0 to 4 or 1 to 5?
Check your source before you add anything up. The WHO manual (Üstün et al., 2010) describes simple scoring with responses coded 1 to 5. The WHO's current WHODAS page says the numbers were changed to 0 to 4 after feedback, and that its templates should only be used with 0 to 4.
It matters: the same answers in the example above add up to 18 on the 0 to 4 coding and 30 on the 1 to 5 coding. Australian norms (below) use the 0 to 48 range, so a 1 to 5 total compared against them would make a client look much more impaired than they are. Record which coding you used.
How do you score the 36-item version?
For simple scoring, add all 36 items on the 0 to 4 scale for a total of 0 to 144. The WHO 36-item simple scoring sheet divides the total by 144.
The complication is the four work and school items (D5.5 to D5.8). The self-report form only asks them if the person works (paid, unpaid or self-employed) or goes to school. According to the WHO manual, if a respondent isn't working and has answered the other 32 items, "the score can be used as it is" and is comparable to the full version.
In practice, a 32-item raw sum has a maximum of 128, not 144. If you divide it by 144 the way the simple template does, the percentage can never reach 100 and understates the person's difficulty. State the denominator whenever you report a percentage.
The 36-item version also produces six domain scores, which show where functioning is limited rather than only how much.
What is the difference between simple and IRT scoring?
The WHO describes two ways to score the WHODAS:
- Simple scoring adds up the item scores with no weighting. The WHO manual calls it practical for hand scoring and says it "may be the method of choice in busy clinical settings", but warns that it is "specific to the sample at hand" and shouldn't be assumed to compare across populations.
- Complex (IRT) scoring weights each item and severity level differently, sums within domains, sums the domains, then converts the total to a 0 to 100 metric where 0 is no disability and 100 is full disability. It needs the WHO's algorithm (published as SPSS syntax in the manual) or a scoring sheet, and can't practically be done in your head.
The two aren't interchangeable. A simple sum of 18 and an IRT score of 18 are different results, and the WHO's population percentile tables in the manual are for IRT scores, taken from a multi-country survey. On that table, an IRT score of 16.7 on the 12-item version sits around the 90th percentile. Don't read a simple sum against it.
What is a normal WHODAS score in Australia?
The most useful Australian reference is Andrews et al. (2009). They used the 12-item WHODAS 2.0 in the 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: 8,841 adults aged 16 to 85, scored as a simple 0 to 48 sum. They found that:
- The population mean was 3.1, and 45% scored 0, reporting no difficulty at all.
- 34% scored 1 to 4, 12% scored 5 to 9, and nearly 10% scored 10 to 48.
- People with a 12-month mental disorder averaged 6.3, people with a chronic physical condition averaged 4.3, and people with neither averaged 1.4.
- Scores rose with age. The 90th percentile was 7 for 16 to 24 year olds and 15 for those aged 75 to 85.
The authors are explicit that "there is no agreed upon cut-point" for significant disability. Their guidance is that people scoring 10 to 48 are in the top 10% of the population and "are likely to have clinically significant disability".
Back to the worked example: a simple sum of 18 is above the 95th percentile for Australian adults overall (14), and between the 90th (16) and 95th (21) percentiles for people with any mental disorder in that survey. That is more defensible in a report than a label like "moderate disability", which has no validated threshold.
How should you handle missing items?
The WHO manual gives simple rules:
- 12-item: if one item is missing, give it the mean of the other 11 items. Don't use this method if more than one item is missing.
- 36-item: if one or two items are missing, give them the mean of the other items in the same domain. Don't do this if more than two items are missing, and if you are reporting domain scores, the two missing items shouldn't come from the same domain.
- Not working: a complete 32-item response can be used as it is (see above).
Beyond that, the manual points to research imputation methods. Clinically, ask the client to finish the form.
What do the H1 to H3 questions measure?
After the scored items, the WHODAS asks three questions about days out of the past 30:
- H1: how many days the difficulties were present
- H2: how many days the person was totally unable to carry out usual activities or work
- H3: how many further days they cut back or reduced their activities
They aren't part of the total, but "unable to work on 12 of the last 30 days" is concrete in a way a summary score isn't.
How is the WHODAS used for NDIS evidence?
The NDIS page on examples of disability evidence says that for psychosocial disability, a functional capacity assessment "can be done by your health professional" and may include the Life Skills Profile 16 (LSP-16), the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) or the WHODAS.
The same page lists WHODAS 2.0 "for 17 years and over" in the preferred evidence for several other disability types, including acquired brain injury, autism, intellectual disability, spinal cord injury and "other disabilities".
The NDIS also asks for a statement from a treating professional that covers how the condition affects everyday life, so a WHODAS total on its own is thin evidence. It is much stronger when you add:
- The domain scores (36-item), showing which areas of life are most affected
- The item-level responses rated severe or extreme, in the client's own terms
- The H2 and H3 day counts
- The scoring method, coding and version used
For how this carries into ongoing reports, see our guides to writing an NDIS progress report and setting NDIS goals.
How do you document a WHODAS result?
A WHODAS entry that will still make sense at review, or to another clinician, records:
- Version (12-item, 36-item or 32 items if not working) and form (self, interviewer or proxy)
- Scoring method (simple or IRT) and item coding (0 to 4 or 1 to 5)
- The total, with the denominator if you give a percentage, and any imputed items
- Domain scores, if you used the 36-item version
- H1 to H3 day counts
- The norm used for comparison, such as Andrews et al. (2009)
Functioning scores sit well alongside symptom measures. A falling K10 or DASS-21 with an unchanged WHODAS tells you something different from both improving together, and that is worth recording in a treatment plan review or assessment report.
Scoring by hand invites arithmetic errors, especially with 36 items, a work-status branch and imputation rules. PractaLuma is AI-native practice management software for Australian mental-health practices. Its standardised assessments let you send, score and track both WHODAS 2.0 versions alongside the K10, DASS-21, PHQ-9 and other measures, so functioning scores sit in the client record over time. See pricing for plan details.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a WHODAS 2.0 cut-off score? No official one. Using Australian 12-item norms, Andrews et al. (2009) suggest a simple sum of 10 to 48 puts someone in the top 10% of the population and likely indicates clinically significant disability.
Can I get domain scores from the 12-item WHODAS? No. The WHO manual says you need the 36-item version for domain scores. The 12-item version gives an overall score only.
Is the WHODAS 2.0 free to use? The WHO publishes the instrument, manual and scoring templates on its website. Check the WHO's current terms for your intended use, particularly for translations or commercial redistribution.
Can a family member complete the WHODAS? Yes. There is a proxy-administered form for a third party such as a family member or carer. Record that the proxy form was used, as proxy and self-report scores may differ.
This guide summarises published scoring conventions for clinicians. It is not a substitute for clinical judgement or the requirements of the NDIS or other funding bodies.