WHODAS 2.0 – Interview
Assessment Session:
Disability assessments using the WHODAS 2.0 – Interview are now faster and more comprehensive. NovoNote analyses your interview session and records the client’s response to the question for each of the 43 items, with supporting statements drawn from the interview and a confidence flag where an item warrants further assessment. It is recommended that clinicians guide their questions using the World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 – Interview (WHODAS 2.0 – Interview) in NovoPsych.
This template is currently in beta. If you use it, we’d welcome your feedback at [email protected]
Note: Outputs are explicitly AI-suggested only. Clinicians should review and confirm every item before entering final responses into NovoPsych for IRT-based WHODAS scoring.
Learn more about the WHODAS 2.0 – Interview here or start using the WHODAS 2.0 Interview template in NovoNote.
WHODAS 2.0 – Interview
Score the clinician-administered WHODAS 2.0 interview (43 items across six domains and functional impairment) from the session transcript, with supporting quotes for each item and a low confidence flag where evidence is unclear.
Domain Scoring
- Domain 1 — Cognition: Concentration, memory, problem-solving, learning new tasks, understanding others, and starting/maintaining conversation.
- Domain 2 — Mobility: Standing, moving around the home, leaving the home, and walking long distances.
- Domain 3 — Self-Care: Washing, dressing, eating, and staying alone for a few days.
- Domain 4 — Getting Along: Dealing with strangers, friendships, close relationships, making new friends, and sexual activity.
- Domain 5 — Life Activities: Household responsibilities and tasks, plus work/school tasks (rated only if the client is employed or studying).
- Domain 6 — Participation: Community involvement, external barriers, dignity, time spent on the condition, emotional impact, financial strain, family impact, and leisure time.
- Overall Impairment: Number of days (0–30) difficulties were present, caused total inability to function, or led to reduced activity.
Notes for Scoring
All scores are AI-suggested from the interview and require clinician confirmation. Final WHODAS scoring (0–100 IRT metric, percentiles, and domain descriptors) is generated by NovoPsych once confirmed responses are entered.
Other Important Clinical Background Information
Any other clinically relevant information from the interview not captured by the WHODAS items, such as life circumstances, medications, life events, presenting problems, or services received.
Clinical Summary
A summary across all domains identifying the areas of greatest and least difficulty, any items flagged for clinician follow-up, and notable variability within a domain.
Scoring and Template Instructions
- Reference frames: Apply all six WHO reference frames to every item above:
- Rated on degree of difficulty (increased effort, pain/discomfort, slowness, or a change in how the activity is done)
- Count difficulty only if due to a health condition (any disease, illness, or other health problem, whether physical, mental/emotional, alcohol, or drug related)
- Reference period is the past 30 days only
- Average across good and bad days rather than rating only the worst day
- Rate the activity as the respondent usually does it (i.e. with whatever assistive device or personal assistance they normally use); if the transcript shows the interviewer separately asked about difficulty with and without usual assistance, output both scores
- N/A should be used where the activity is clearly unrelated to the health condition (respondent says it’s a matter of preference, explicitly states it has nothing to do with their health, not experienced, attempted, or encountered in the past 30 days).
Base every item on all situations the respondent described for that activity across the past 30 days. Always rate based on what the respondent actually said.
- Scoring anchors: 0 = None, 1 = Mild, 2 = Moderate, 3 = Severe, 4 = Extreme or cannot do, N/A = Not applicable. The five day-count items (25, 32, 41-43) are scored as a number of days (0–30) instead of on this scale, and items 30–31 instead use a 1–2 scale (1 = No, 2 = Yes).
- Unscored items: if a question was not covered in the transcript, the item is still printed in full with its exact wording, marked Score: — and Confidence: Not discussed.
- Low Confidence flag: applied whenever there is not enough information to confidently score severity — an indirect or ambiguous mention, a best-guess severity, an implicit (non-explicit) rating, or the topic not being discussed — each flag is accompanied by a Reason (needs more information/probing, discrepant responses, or item not asked).
- Output format: every item is printed as its number and exact wording, followed by Score, Supporting Statements (a quote or paraphrase, or “Not discussed”), and, where relevant, a Caution – Low Confidence line with Reason. Item numbering and wording are preserved exactly as set out in the template, and these scores are always framed as AI-suggested only, pending clinician confirmation.
WHODAS 2.0 Clinician Interview – Suggested Scores
Domain 1 — Cognition (Understanding & Communicating)
Item 1 — Concentrating on doing something for ten minutes?
Score: 1 (Mild) | Supporting Statements: “I can still focus, just get distracted faster when my back’s aching.” Worse on days following poor sleep due to pain. Rated as “mild, maybe creeping toward moderate on bad days.”
Caution – Low Confidence | Reason: client gave a range (mild to moderate on bad days); clinician should confirm final rating
Item 2 — Remembering to do important things?
Score: 0 (None) | Supporting Statements: “My memory’s fine.”
Item 3 — Analysing and finding solutions to problems in day-to-day life?
Score: 1 (Mild) | Supporting Statements: “Bit slower to think things through some days, especially if I haven’t slept well.” Manages most day-to-day problem-solving but needs more time when in pain. Rated as “mild.”
Item 4 — Learning a new task, for example, learning how to get a new place?
Score: 1 (Mild) | Supporting Statements: “Took me longer than usual to learn the new inventory system at work.” Attributes this partly to pain-related fatigue affecting concentration during training.
Item 5 — Generally understanding what people say?
Score: 0 (None) | Supporting Statements: “No problems there.”
Item 6 — Starting and maintaining a conversation?
Score: 0 (None) | Supporting Statements: “That’s all fine.”
Domain 2 — Mobility (Getting Around)
Item 7 — Standing for long periods such as 30 minutes?
Score: 3 (Severe) | Supporting Statements: “I can’t stand for more than ten minutes before the pain gets too much.” Reports needing to lean on something or sit down abruptly. Rated as “severe.”
Item 8 — Standing up from sitting down?
Score: 2 (Moderate) | Supporting Statements: “Takes me a minute to get up, I have to brace myself.” Worse in the mornings before pain medication takes effect.
Item 9 — Moving around inside your home?
Score: 1 (Mild) | Supporting Statements: “I manage around the house, just slower.”
Item 10 — Getting out of your home?
Score: 2 (Moderate) | Supporting Statements: “Some days I don’t leave because getting in and out of the car is painful.” Now uses a raised seat cushion in the car to help.
Item 11 — Walking a long distance such as a kilometre (or equivalent)?
Score: 3 (Severe) | Supporting Statements: “I can’t walk anywhere near a kilometre anymore, maybe 200 metres before I need to stop.” Previously walked the dog 2km daily; has stopped entirely.
Domain 3 — Self-Care
Item 12 — Washing your whole body?
Score: 1 (Mild) | Supporting Statements: “Showering’s fine, just can’t bend to wash my feet properly.” Now uses a long-handled sponge.
Item 13 — Getting dressed?
Score: 2 (Moderate) | Supporting Statements: “Putting on socks and shoes is the hardest part, my wife helps some mornings.” Has switched to slip-on shoes to avoid bending to tie laces.
Item 14 — Eating?
Score: 0 (None) | Supporting Statements: “No difficulties there.”
Item 15 — Staying by yourself for a few days?
Score: N/A | Supporting Statements: “Hasn’t come up, my wife’s always around.”
Domain 4 — Getting Along (With People)
Item 16 — Dealing with people you do not know?
Score: 0 (None) | Supporting Statements: “That’s not an issue.”
Item 17 — Maintaining a friendship?
Score: 1 (Mild) | Supporting Statements: “I’ve cancelled on a few mates lately because I wasn’t up to going out.” Still keeps in touch by phone regularly.
Item 18 — Getting along with people who are close to you?
Score: 1 (Mild) | Supporting Statements: “I’ve been more short-tempered with my wife, the pain wears on you.” Reports things are fine with his son; the strain is mainly with his wife, who takes on most of the practical load.
Caution – Low Confidence | Reason: discrepant responses between relationship with wife versus son; WHODAS asks for the average across close relationships — clinician should confirm
Item 19 — Making new friends?
Score: — | Supporting Statements: “Not discussed”
Caution – Low Confidence | Reason: item was not asked
Item 20 — Sexual activities?
Score: 2 (Moderate, best estimate) | Supporting Statements: “That side of things has taken a hit too, we haven’t really talked about it much.”
Caution – Low Confidence | Reason: indirect or ambiguous mention of severity
Domain 5 — Life Activities (Household)
Item 21 — Taking care of your household responsibilities?
Score: 3 (Severe) | Supporting Statements: “I can’t do the mowing or anything physical around the house anymore, my son does it now.” Has also stopped doing the grocery shopping, since it involves lifting.
Item 22 — Doing most important household tasks well?
Score: 2 (Moderate) | Supporting Statements: “What I can do, I don’t do as well, small stuff like cooking takes longer standing at the bench.” Now uses a stool at the kitchen bench.
Item 23 — Getting all the household work done that you needed to do?
Score: 3 (Severe) | Supporting Statements: “Heaps of stuff just doesn’t get done.” Describes the garage and yard as “a disaster” since the injury.
Item 24 — Getting your household work done as quickly as needed?
Score: 3 (Severe) | Supporting Statements: “Everything takes me twice as long.”
Item 25 — In the past 30 days, on how many days did you reduce or completely miss household work because of your health condition?
Score: 20 | Supporting Statements: “It’s been most of the month” Estimates 20 days
Domain 5 — Life Activities (Work / School)
Item 26 — Your day-to-day work/school?
Score: 2 (Moderate) | Supporting Statements: “I’m back on light duties, but even that’s a struggle some afternoons.” Pain and fatigue are worse after lunch.
Item 27 — Doing your most important work/school tasks well?
Score: 2 (Moderate) | Supporting Statements: “I get through it, but not at the standard I used to.” Rated as “moderate, maybe edging toward severe by the end of the week.”
Caution – Low Confidence | Reason: client gave a range across the working week; clinician should confirm final rating
Item 28 — Getting all the work done that you need to do?
Score: 2 (Moderate) | Supporting Statements: “I fall behind and my supervisor’s had to reassign some of my jobs.”
Item 29 — Getting your work done as quickly as needed?
Score: 2 (Moderate) | Supporting Statements: “Everything on the tools side takes me longer now.”
Item 30 — Have you had to work at a lower level because of a health condition?
Score: 2 (Yes) | Supporting Statements: “Yep, after my re-assignment”
Item 31 — Did you earn less money as the result of a health condition?
Score: 1 (No)| Supporting Statements: “No pay cut yet, but that might change”
Item 32 — In the past 30 days, on how many days did you miss work for half a day or more because of your health condition?
Score: 10 | Supporting Statements: “Probably at least a week total where I had to call off”
Domain 6 — Participation (In Society)
Item 33 — How much of a problem did you have in joining in community activities (for example, festivities, religious or other activities) in the same way as anyone else can?
Score: 2 (Moderate) | Supporting Statements: “I’ve stopped going to my Saturday footy club, can’t sit through the drive.” Watches from home on TV instead.
Item 34 — How much of a problem did you have because of barriers or hindrances in the world around you?
Score: 1 (Mild) | Supporting Statements: “Parking’s the main issue, if I can’t park close I struggle.”
Item 35 — How much of a problem did you have living with dignity because of the attitudes and actions of others?
Score: 1 (Mild) | Supporting Statements: “Having to ask for help with my shoes gets to me a bit.”
Item 36 — How much time did you spend on your health condition, or its consequences?
Score: 2 (Moderate) | Supporting Statements: “Between physio and doctor’s appointments it’s a couple of times a week.” Plus daily home exercises.
Item 37 — How much have you been emotionally affected by your health condition?
Score: 2 (Moderate) | Supporting Statements: “It’s frustrating, some days I feel pretty flat about it.” Denies persistent low mood outside of pain flare-ups.
Caution – Low Confidence | Reason: severity described inconsistently across the interview; clinician should confirm rating
Item 38 — How much has your health condition been a drain on the financial resources of you or your family?
Score: 2 (Moderate) | Supporting Statements: “We’re down to one income really, since I dropped my hours.”
Item 39 — How much of a problem did your family have because of your health problems?
Score: 1 (Mild) | Supporting Statements: “My wife’s picked up a lot of the slack, it’s put a bit of strain on things.”
Item 40 — How much of a problem did you have in doing things by yourself for relaxation or pleasure?
Score: 2 (Moderate) | Supporting Statements: “I used to go fishing most weekends, haven’t been in months.” Has taken up watching fishing videos instead but says “it’s not the same.”
Overall Impairment (Number of Days)
Item 41 — Overall, in the past 30 days, how many days were these difficulties present?
Score: 30 | Supporting Statements: “It’s every day at the moment.”
Item 42 — In the past 30 days, for how many days were you totally unable to carry out your usual activities or work because of any health condition?
Score: 4 | Supporting Statements: “Maybe four days in the last month where I couldn’t do anything.”
Item 43 — In the past 30 days, not counting the 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?
Score: 22 | Supporting Statements: “Most days I’m cutting back on something.”
Notes for Scoring
All scores above are AI-suggested from the interview and require clinician confirmation. Final WHODAS scoring (0–100 IRT metric, percentiles, and domain descriptors) is generated by NovoPsych once confirmed responses are entered.
Other Important Clinical Background Information
- Sustained an L4/L5 disc injury in a workplace lifting incident 8 months ago.
- Currently taking paracetamol and ibuprofen as needed; attends physiotherapy weekly plus daily home exercises.
- Reports frustration and low mood related to his reduced function but denies persistent or clinically significant depression.
- Currently on modified/light duties at work and remains motivated to return to full duties.
- No reported alcohol or drug use, and no prior mental health history.
- Reports strong practical support from his wife and son at home.
Clinical Summary
- Domains most affected: Mobility and Life Activities (Household), reflecting the physical nature of the injury and its impact on functional independence at home and at work.
- Relative strengths: Cognition and Getting Along are largely preserved, with only mild strain on close relationships.
- Items flagged Low confidence or Not discussed: Item 1 and Item 27 (client gave a range across circumstances); Item 18 (discrepant responses between relationships); Item 19 (not asked); Item 20 (ambiguous mention); Item 37 (severity described inconsistently). Recommend the clinician confirm each directly before scoring.
- Domain item variability: Within Domain 5 (Household), scores range from severe (items 21, 23, 24) to moderate (item 22) — the individual items, rather than the domain average, should be interpreted.
FAQ
Is the expectation that clinicians still administer the standard WHODAS 2.0 Clinical Interview?
The WHODAS 2.0 – Interview is a standardised, structured instrument. Each question is asked verbatim, within the specified frames of reference — the past 30 days, difficulty experienced, and attribution to the health condition — and the client selects their own severity rating on the 0–4 scale (none to extreme / cannot do). Item-specific rules, exceptions and skip logic apply throughout. None of that changes because a scribe is present in the room.
What role does AI play in scoring for the WHODAS 2.0 - Clinical Interview?
NovoNote’s AI serves as a “scribe” (in its functional similiarity). It records the client’s verbatim responses on the severity rating scale and assists in tracking those responses across all 43 items. Where a client has clearly stated a rating, the suggestion is not an inference. It is a transcription of the actual response “client stated rating of….”.
Can NovoNote generate ratings from broader narrative where a client has not directly responded to an item?
Standard, structured format requires that the clients verbally select difficulty ratings for each item. Where the transcript clearly captures those responses — “moderate”, “severe” — the AI documents the response rating that directly corresponds to what the client stated. This is the intended use case for the template.
In cases where the interview did not follow standard administration protocol and there is ambiguous rating information (two ratings, narrative but no rating, clinician inferred ratings etc.) NovoNote AI will provide a rating using the narrative responses, and transcribe supporting information based on matching the item content against the session narrative; however it will also explicitly flag this as low confidence, with a stated reason. Where the deviation is more substantial, it will flag the entire interview as a non-standard administration, alerting the clinician that what took place departed from the standard protocol, and in all cases state the reason: item not asked, content not discussed, insufficient information or probing, and/or discrepant responses.
What methodology is used to translate narrative statements into ratings?
The rubric is built on the WHODAS manual’s administration instructions. The AI is directed to score each item based on hard-coded adherence to the manual: clinician delivery of the questions (the six frames of reference, the recommended clarifying questions, the exception rules) and the client’s stated severity rating, or “not applicable” where the item permits it.
Where does the final score come from?
Has the method been psychometrically validated?
This is the goal, just like developing and validating any other measure – digital or paper, self-report or clinical interview. During this beta phase, the intention is to compare the AI scores against clinician-entered assessment ratings of the WHODAS in Novopsych and calculate inter-rater reliability. Clinicians who use the template can opt in to share their data with us via their account settings, if interested.
In the current pilot phase, we have tested the WHODAS clinician interview ourselves with practice interviews for both standard and non-standardised administrations to evaluate if the AI-scored template is working as intended. We also continuously review the AI-scored clinician interview assessments for quality assurance to identify any areas where the AI is not performing as it should and iterate on improving both its precision and accuracy.
- Template Type
- Assessment Session
Author:
Dr Liz Rojas
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