Men and women use mental health services differently, according to a recent study.

Researchers from St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences found that women with chronic physical illness are more likely to use mental health services than men with similar illnesses. They also found that women seek out mental health services six months earlier than those same men.

"Chronic physical illness can lead to depression," Dr. Flora Matheson, a scientist in the hospital's Centre for Research on Inner City Health, said in a statement. "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."

For the study, the research team collected and analyzed data from the Canadian Community Health Survey, physician claims and inpatient medical records from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. They looked at people diagnosed with at least one of four physical illnesses: diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Based on the findings, among those with at least one of these four illnesses, women were 10 percent 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," Matheson said. "We still need more research to understand why this gender divide exists."

Researchers said 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 findings were recently published in the British Medical Journal's Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.