【在生活中學習語言】《中英對照讀新聞》Sick leave ’link to early death’ 常請病假早死機率高
◎鄭寺音

People who have long spells of sick leave for psychiatric reasons are twice as likely to die from cancer as healthier employees, research suggests.

因為精神因素長期請病假的人，可能因為癌症而死亡的機率為較健康者的兩倍，研究顯示。

The "unexpected" finding could help pick out at-risk groups, the University College London researchers reported in the British Medical Journal.

這種「意料之外」的發現，可能有助挑選危險族群，英國倫敦大學學院的研究人員在英國醫學期刊報告說。

Among 6,500 civil servants, those who had taken a long period of sick leave had a 66% higher risk of early death.

6500名公僕中，請長病假者，早死機率高66%。

Sickness records were assessed from London-based employees in 20 Whitehall departments between 1985 and 1988 and compared with mortality up until 2004.

研究人員評估1985到1988年間，倫敦白廳20個政府部門的職員生病紀錄，並比較直到2004年的死亡數。

Overall 288 people died during the study.

研究期間，共288人死亡。

The 30% of people who had one or more stints of at least seven days off work had a 66% increased risk of premature death compared to those who had not had any long periods of sick leave, it was found.

至少一次請7天病假以上的30%人裡面，早死風險比沒請過長期病假者高66%。

The highest mortality risk was seen in those who had been off work with heart disease, stroke or related conditions who had more than four times the risk of premature death than those who had no long sickness absences.

最大的死亡風險，落在那些因為心臟疾病、中風或相關疾病請假的族群之中。他們的早死風險是沒有請長病假者的4倍以上。

新聞辭典

sick leave：名詞，病假。例句：Mark is not in the office today. He broke his leg yesterday, so he’s on/he’s taken sick leave.（馬克今天不在辦公室，他昨天摔斷腿了，所以請病假。）

spell：名詞，一段時間。例句：We’re expecting a spell of sunshine.

（我們盼望晴朗的天氣。）

pick out：片語，挑選出，揀出。例句：Let me pick out some good ones for you.（讓我來替你挑幾個好的。）

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