Cancer fears plague Taiwan's office workers

The poll, conducted by the online 1111 Job Bank from July 2-13 to gauge office workers' health concerns, found that 89.77 percent of the respondents live in constant fear of eventually having cancer, largely because of stress and fatigue.

The respondents worry that they might have colorectal cancer, liver cancer, cervical cancer, in that order, as well as other types of cancer.

The poll found that 77.88 percent of the office workers are afraid that they might have colorectal cancer because they often eat out, their diet is imbalanced, they lead an irregular lifestyle, they have difficulties with bowel movements and they are under great work pressure.

In terms of their actual condition, 38.2 percent of the respondents said that they suffer from constipation, 32.44 percent said they do not have bowel movements everyday, 31.1 percent said their stool is hard, dry, painful, or difficult to pass, while 22.25 percent said they often feel full or bloated.

The poll also found that to tackle problems with their digestive systems, 63 percent of the respondents said they eat fresh fruits and vegetable as often as they can, 46.65 percent said they make it a habit to have bowel movements everyday, 40.75 percent said they take prebiotics or bifidus factor to strengthen their digestive system and 39.28 said they shun fried or pickled foods.

The poll, conducted online, obtained 1,129 valid responses. It has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 2.91 percentage points, according to the 1111 Job Bank.

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