WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

DISABILITY ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE

WHODAS II

Phase 2 Field Trials – Health Services Research

12-Item Interviewer Administered Version
February 2000
This instrument was developed by the WHO’s Assessment, Classification and Epidemiology Group
within the framework of the WHO/NIH Joint Project on Assessment and Classification of
Disablements. The International Task Force members who contributed to the development of this
instrument include:
Elizabeth Badley Canada Ron Kessler USA
Karen Ritchie France Robert Trotter USA
Srinivasa Murthy India Michael Von Korff USA
Charles Pull Luxembourg Robert Battjes NIDA
Hans Hoek Netherlands Bennett Fletcher NIDA
Durk Wiersma Netherlands Bridget Grant NIAAA
Martin Prince UK Cille Kennedy NIMH
The WHO team:

Somnath Chatterji Jayne Lux Shekhar Saxena

Patrick Doyle Christopher Nelson T. Bedirhan Üstün
JoAnne Epping-Jordan Jurgen Rehm
Matilde Leonardi Ritu Sadana

Field Trial Centers:

Thomas Kugener Austria Hans Hoek Netherlands

Kruy Kim Hourn Cambodia Bisi Odejide Nigeria
Yao Guizhong China José Luis Segura García Peru
Jesús Saíz Cuba Radu Vrasti Romania
Venos Mavreas Greece José Luis Vazquez Barquero Spain
Srinivasa Murthy India, Bangalore Adel Chaker Tunisia
Hemraj Pal India, Delhi Berna Ulug Turkey
Ugo Nocentini Italy Martin Prince UK
Miyako Tazaki Japan Ron Kessler USA
Elie Karam Lebanon Katherine McGonagle USA
Charles Pull Luxembourg Michael Von Korff USA

The proper use of this instrument requires appropriate training of interviewers including use of the
WHO-DAS II Interviewer’s Training Manual and Interview Guide. The computerized version of the
interview (I shell) is available for computer assisted interviews or for data entry. Informant (proxy)
and self-administered versions of this instrument are available for field testing.

Permission to translate this instrument into any language should be obtained from WHO. All
translations should be prepared according to the WHO translation guidelines.

For additional information, please contact:

Dr T. Bedirhan Üstün
Group Leader
Assessment, Classification and Epidemiology Group
World Health Organization
CH – 1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
Tel: + + 41 22 791 3609
Fax: + + 41 22 791 4885
Email: ustunb@who.ch

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 SECTION 1. Face Sheet

ITEMS F1- F6 ARE TO BE COMPLETED BY INTERVIEWERS PRIOR TO

STARTING EACH INTERVIEW

F1 RESPONDENT I.D . #

CENTRE # - SUBJECT #

F2 INTERVIEWER I.D. #

CENTRE # - INTERVIEWER #

F3 ASSESSMENT TIME POINT (1, 2, ETC.)

F4 INTERVIEW DATE ___ ___/___ ___/___ ___

month day year

F5 LIVING SITUATION AT TIME OF

Independent in Community 1
INTERVIEW (CIRCLE ONLY ONE)
Assisted Living 2
Hospitalized 3

F6 SAMPLE (CIRCLE ONLY ONE)

General population 1
Drug related problems 2
Alcohol related problems 3
Mental health problems 4
Physical problems 5
Other (specify) 6

__________________________

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 SECTION 2. DEMOGRAPHIC AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION

PREAMBLE

This interview has been developed by the World Health Organization to better understand the
difficulties people may have due to their health conditions. The information that you provide in
this interview is confidential and will be used only for research.

FOR RESPONDENTS FROM THE GENERAL POPULATION (NOT THE CLINICAL

POPULATION) SAY: Even if you are healthy and have no difficulties, it is necessary that I ask
all of the questions for completeness.

I will begin with some background questions.

A1 RECORD SEX AS OBSERVED Female 1

Male 2

A2 How old are you now? ___/___ years

A3 How many years in all did you spend studying in

___/___ years
school, college or university?

A4 What is your current marital status? Never married 1

(SELECT THE SINGLE BEST OPTION)
Currently married 2
Separated 3
Divorced 4
Widowed 5
Cohabiting 6

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A5 Which describes your main work status best? Paid work 1
(SELECT THE SINGLE BEST OPTION) Self employed, such as own 2
your business or farming
Non paid work, such as 3
volunteer or charity
Student 4

Keeping house/Homemaker 5
Retired 6
Unemployed (health reasons) 7
Unemployed (other reasons) 8
Other (specify) 9
__________________________

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 SECTION 3: PREAMBLE

SAY TO RESPONDENT:
The interview is about difficulties people have because of health conditions. (HAND
FLASHCARD #1 TO RESPONDENT). By health condition I mean diseases or illnesses, other
health problems that may be short or long lasting, injuries, mental or emotional problems and
problems with alcohol or drugs.

I remind you to keep all of your health problems in mind as you answer the questions. When I ask
you about difficulties in doing an activity think about (POINT TO FLASHCARD #1).

• Increased effort
• Discomfort or pain
• Slowness
• Changes in the way you do the activity

(POINT TO FLASHCARD #1). When answering, I’d like you to think back over the last 30
days. I also would like you to answer these questions thinking about how much difficulty you
have, on average over the past 30 days, while doing the activity as you usually do it.

(HAND FLASHCARD #2 TO RESPONDENT). Use this scale when responding. (READ

SCALE ALOUD): None, mild, moderate, severe, extreme or cannot do.

(FLASHCARDS #1 AND #2 SHOULD REMAIN VISIBLE TO THE RESPONDENT

THROUGHOUT THE INTERVIEW. )

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 SECTION 4. CORE QUESTIONS

H1 How do you rate your overall Very good Good Moderate Bad Very Bad
health in the past 30 days?
Read choices to respondent.

SHOW FLASHCARD #2 to participant

In the last 30 days how much difficulty did you have in:

Extreme
None Mild Moderate Severe /Cannot
Do

S1 Standing for long periods such as

30 minutes? 1 2 3 4 5

S2 Taking care of your household

responsibilities? 1 2 3 4 5

S3 Learning a new task, for example,

learning how to get to a new
1 2 3 4 5
place?

S4 How much of a problem did you

have joining in community
activities (for example, festivities,
1 2 3 4 5
religious or other activities) in the
same way as anyone else can?

S5 How much have you been

emotionally affected by your
1 2 3 4 5
health problems?

Continue to next page…

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 In the last 30 days how much difficulty did you have in:
Extreme
None Mild Moderate Severe /Cannot
Do

S6 Concentrating on doing something

for ten minutes? 1 2 3 4 5

S7 Walking a long distance such as a

1 2 3 4 5
kilometre [or equivalent]?

S8 Washing your whole body? 1 2 3 4 5

S9 Getting dressed? 1 2 3 4 5

S10 Dealing with people you do not

know? 1 2 3 4 5

S11 Maintaining a friendship? 1 2 3 4 5

S12 Your day to day work? 1 2 3 4 5

Extreme
None Mild Moderate Severe /Cannot
Do

H2 Overall, how much did these difficulties

interfere with your life?
1 2 3 4 5
Read choices to respondent.

H3 Overall, in the past 30 days, how many RECORD NUMBER OF DAYS

days were these difficulties present?
___/___

H4 In the past 30 days, for how many days RECORD NUMBER OF DAYS
were you totally unable to carry out your
__/__
usual activities or work because of any
health condition?

H5 In the past 30 days, not counting the days RECORD NUMBER OF DAYS
that you were totally unable, for how many
__/__
days did you cut back or reduce your usual
activities or work because of any health
condition?

This concludes our interview, thank you for participating.

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Health Conditions:
• Diseases, illnesses or other health problems
• Injuries
• Mental or emotional problems
• Problems with alcohol
• Problems with drugs

Having difficulty with an activity means:

• Increased effort
• Discomfort or pain
• Slowness
• Changes in the way you do the activity

Think about the past 30 days only

Flashcard #1

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Flashcard #2

1 2 3 4 5

None Mild Moderate Severe Extreme/

Cannot Do
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