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Women with chronic physical illnesses are more likely to use mental health services than men with similar illnesses; they also seek out mental health services six months earlier than those same men, according to new research from medical sociologist Flora Matheson.

An assistant professor at the University of Toronto's , and a scientist at the  in the  (ICES) at , Matheson is also an associate graduate faculty member at the  at U of T.

“Chronic physical illness can lead to depression,” said Matheson. “We want to better understand who will seek mental health services when diagnosed with a chronic physical illness so we can best help those who need care.”

The findings, published June 26 in the British Medical Journal’s Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, looked at people diagnosed with at least one of four physical illnesses: diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Researchers found that among those with at least one of these four illnesses, women were 10 per cent more likely to use mental health services than men. Furthermore, within any three-year period, women with physical illness used medical services for mental health treatment six months earlier than men.

“Our results don’t necessarily mean that more focus should be paid to women, however,” said Matheson. “We still need more research to understand why this gender divide exists.”

The results may imply that women are more comfortable seeking mental health support than men. Alternatively, the gender discrepancy might mean that symptoms are worse among women, requiring more women to seek help and sooner, or that men defer seeking treatment for mental health concerns.

The study used data from the Canadian Community Health Survey, physician claims and inpatient medical records from ICES. Mental illness service use was defined as one visit to a physician or specialist for mental health reasons, such as depression, anxiety, smoking addiction or marital difficulties.

The research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Geoff Koehler is a writer with St. Michael's Hospital, a partner of the University of Toronto.