OBJECTIVES: Traditionally, unmet needs are assessed using claims data, clinician-reported metrics, or patient-reported metrics from clinical trials.  We seek to use patient-reported survey data from five European countries to quantify unmet needs of patients with depression currently using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs).  This study will highlight the benefits of patient-reported survey data.METHODS: We analyzed data from the 2007 European National Health and Wellness Survey, an annual, cross-sectional, patient-reported survey of adults (aged 18+) in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK.  The sample for analysis consisted of patients with diagnosed depression currently using an SSRI or SNRI and excluded patients with bipolar disorder.  Unmet needs were defined as an affirmative response to the following symptoms in the past month: bothered by feeling down, depressed or hopeless; and bothered by having little interest or pleasure in doing things. Survey data were projected to national populations.  Chi-square was used to test for differences across countries.RESULTS: We found 1630 SSRI and 355 SNRI users in the sample, projecting to 6.93 and 1.46 million, respectively.  There were 82.5% of SSRI users and 84.3% of SNRI users who were bothered by feeling down, depressed, or hopeless, equating to 5.71 and 1.23 million, respectively.  Similarly, 78.3% of SSRI users and 81.3% of SNRI users were bothered by having little interest or pleasure in doing things equating to 5.42 and 1.19 million in the larger population, respectively.  Unmet needs significantly (p<0.01) varied by country among SSRI users but not SNRI users.CONCLUSIONS: Patient-reported survey data reflect patients' disease perception and are generalizable to the population.  These data show very high unmet needs among patients with depression using SSRIs or SNRIs in the five European countries and illustrates the remaining need for treatments which can better alleviate depression symptoms.