A consensus is emerging for functional remission to be routinely assessed in the treatment of major depression. This is because, in many cases, clinical remission is not necessarily accompanied by optimum functioning which would favour the rehabilitation of patients.

The objective was to study in depressed patients treated with agomelatine their global clinical response and their social functioning. The QFS (Questionnaire de Fonctionnement Social) provides information on specific areas of functioning: objectively via the frequency of social behaviours (F: Frequency index) and subjectively via the patient's perception of his/her social performance (S: Satisfaction index), making up a global index (G).

3139 patients were followed over 6-8 weeks. Assessments were carried out at inclusion (C1) and at the follow-up visit (C2): QIDS-C, CGI, QFS and SDS.

At C1 the mean QIDS-C score was 17.0 ± 3.4. For the QFS-G: 72.4% of functioning was “poor”. The SDS global score was 21.3 ± 4.8. At C2, a reduction in the QIDS score was observed: -7.9 ± 4.7 (p < 0.01). QIDS response rates were 50.2% [48.4-52.0%]. Improvement on the SDS was significant and the 3 QFS indexes saw significant increases, but more markedly so for S (6.7 ± 6.7) than for F (4.2 ± 5.4).

The results show an improvement in the social functioning of depressed patients treated with agomelatine. They suggest that a specific action of the treatment contributes to providing the patient with the possibility of better rehabilitation into his/her social, family and professional environments.