One in three office workers who use computers regularly suffer from 'e-mail stress' as they are swamped with messages, a study has revealed.

Researchers from Glasgow University and Paisley University in the United Kingdom have found that struggling to cope with a deluge of e-mails is leaving office staff tired, frustrated and even unproductive, The Daily Telegraph reported in London on Monday.

"E-mail is the thing that now causes us the most problems in our working lives," the daily quoted lead researcher Karen Renaud, a computer scientist from Glasgow University, as saying.

In fact, the conclusion came after the researchers surveyed over 200 officer workers. "Our survey indicates the astonishing extent to which e-mail is embedded in our day-to-day lives. Females, in particular, tended to more pressure to respond than males," Renaud said.

According to the survey, nearly 34 per cent (that is more than a third) admitted that they were addicted to viewing messages every 15 minutes while 64 per cent said that they checked e-mails more than once an hour.

More than a third said that they felt stressed by the volume of e-mails and the need to respond quickly. A further 28 per cent said that they felt driven when they checked their messages because of the pressure to reply. Women workers felt under great pressure to respond than men, the study claimed.

However, researchers found that only 38 per cent of office staff were relaxed enough to wait a day or longer before replying to their e-mails.