Effects of work-related factors on anorectal diseases in adult residents in China

Objective To investigate effects of work-related factors on anorectal diseases and to provide evidences for targeted prevention and treatment of anorectal diseases.Methods Multistage cluster random sampling was adopted to recruit 68 906 urban and rural residents aged ≥ 18 years from all provinces,municipalities,and autonomous regions,except for Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Region,in China.We collected relevant data by means of face-to-face questionnaire survey and anorectal examination from March to December 2013,and analyzed the effects of work-related factors on prevalence of anorectal diseases.Results The prevalence of anorectal diseases was 50.10% among the residents and the prevalence of urban residents (51.14%)was higher than that of rural residents (48.39%).The top five prevalent anorectal diseases among the residents were hemorrhoids,anal fissure,anal eczema,anal fistula,and rectal prolapse,with the prevalences of 49.14%,0.18%,0.14%,0.10%,and 0.02%,respectively.Of all identified anorectal disease cases,98.09% were hemorrhoids patients.The residents with the experience of working in hot and humid environment had an obviously higher anorectal disease prevalence compared to those working in normal or comfortable environment and the prevalence was positively related to the intensity of weight bearing in occupational activity.The occupations with top three anorectal disease prevalence were drivers (69.49%),teachers (57.17%),and business/service workers (56.65%) in the urban residents and drivers (62.81%),professional and technical personnel (61.96%),and teachers (55.56%) in the rural residents,respectively.Conclusion The prevalence of anorectal diseases is still at a high level among Chinese residents;the residents with occupations involved hot and humid working environment,weight bearing,and longtime sitting or standing are populations at a high risk of anorectal diseases and specific preventive measures should be promoted among the people.