The review demonstrated that the WHO-5 has high clinimetric validity , can be used as an outcome measure balancing the wanted and unwanted effects of treatments , is a sensitive and specific screening tool for depression and its applicability across study fields is very high .
Conclusions : The WHO-5 is a short question naire consisting of 5 simple and non-invasive questions , which tap into the subjective well-being of the respondents .
The scale has adequate validity both as a screening tool for depression and as an outcome measure in clinical trials and has been applied successfully across a wide range of study fields
Background : The 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index ( WHO-5 ) is among the most widely used question naires assessing subjective psychological well-being .
Since its first publication in 1998 , the WHO-5 has been translated into more than 30 language s and has been used in research studies all over the world .
We now provide a systematic review of the literature on the WHO-5 .
Reliability and validity of the Thai version of the WHO-Five Well-Being Index in primary care patients.
AIMS Because of the high patient load in Thail and , we need a practical measurement to help primary physicians detect depression . This study aim ed to examine the reliability and validity of the Thai version of the World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index  ( WHO-5-T ) , which is short and easy to use as a screening tool for major depression in primary care patients . METHODS The English version of the WHO-Five Well-Being Index was translated into Thai . Back-translations , cross-cultural adaptation and field testing of the pre-final version with final adjustments were performed accordingly . The WHO-5-T was administered r and omly to 300 patients in our primary care clinic . Then the patients were further assessed using the  Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview  and the  Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression  as the gold st and ard of diagnosis and symptom severity , respectively . RESULTS Completed data were obtained from 274 respondents . Their mean age was 44.6 years [ st and ard deviation ( SD ) = 14.7 ] and 73.7 % of them were female . The mean WHO-5-T score was 14.32 ( SD = 5.26 ) . The WHO-5-T had a satisfactory internal consistency ( Cronbach 's alpha = 0.87 ) and showed moderate convergent validity with the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression ( r = -0.54 ; P < 0.001 ) . The optimal cut-off score of the WHO-5-T < 12 revealed a sensitivity of 0.89 and a specificity of 0.71 in detecting depression . The area under the curve in this study was 0.86 ( SD = 0.03 , 95 % confidence interval 0.81 to 0.89 ) . CONCLUSIONS The Thai version of the WHO-Five Well-Being Index was found to be a reliable and valid self- assessment to screen for major depression in primary care setting at a cut-off point of < 12
The review demonstrated that the WHO-5 has high clinimetric validity , can be used as an outcome measure balancing the wanted and unwanted effects of treatments , is a sensitive and specific screening tool for depression and its applicability across study fields is very high .
Conclusions : The WHO-5 is a short question naire consisting of 5 simple and non-invasive questions , which tap into the subjective well-being of the respondents .
The scale has adequate validity both as a screening tool for depression and as an outcome measure in clinical trials and has been applied successfully across a wide range of study fields
Background : The 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index ( WHO-5 ) is among the most widely used question naires assessing subjective psychological well-being .
Since its first publication in 1998 , the WHO-5 has been translated into more than 30 language s and has been used in research studies all over the world .
We now provide a systematic review of the literature on the WHO-5 .