Table 6.

Physical benefits

Review	Positive outcomes (number of studies)	Negative or non-significant outcomes	AMSTAR 2 rating
Anderson et al. (2014)	Increased self-reported general physical health (2 cross sectional, 2 descriptive, 6 prospective), curvilinear relationship (5 prospective) Maintenance of functional independence (8 prospective) Increased physical activity (3) Improved self-reported strength and walking speed (2) Less hypertension (1) (only in Caucasian Ps (1)) Fewer hip fractures (1) Reduction in mortality (13 prospective) (only for those who volunteered for other-oriented reasons (e.g. altruistic purposes) (1)) Reduction in mortality risk after adjusting for 14 covariates (1)	No association with general physical health (2 descriptive) (brief scales) Mixed results for grip strength (2) No association with physician-diagnosed medical conditions (3) No association with admission to a nursing home (1) No relation to mortality (2)	− 10
Cattan et al. (2011)	Improved self-rated health (1) Improved self-rated health/mental health (8) Improved physical/mental health (7) Improved functional status (4) Increased physical activity (3)
Chen et al. (2020)	Increased physical activity (4) Increased perceived health (2) Reduction in laziness (1) Improved strength (1) and grip strength (1) Improved flexibility, (1) Improved mobility (2) Reduced blood pressure (2)	No significant improvement in BMI, cholesterol, LDL, TG, blood sugar, CRP, or cortisol (1)	9
Filges et al. (2020)	Reduction in mortality (all reported results) Reduced functional disability (all reported results) Increased Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) (2) Improved maintenance of functional competence (all reported results)		30
Gualano et al. (2018)	Significant improvement in functional abilities (1) Significant increase in self-reported health (1)		9
Höing et al. (2016)	Increased maintenance of good health (12) Delayed onset of serious illness and functional disability (2) Reduction in mortality (6)	Did not improve bad health (12)	− 7
Jenkinson et al. (2013)	Increased physical activity (1) Increased strength (1) Significant reduction in mortality (4 cohort) Significant reduction in mortality when adjusting for covariates (5 cohort) Increased self-rated health (2 cohort)	No significant effect on number of falls (1) No significant effect on cane use (1) Inconclusive evidence for effect on functional abilities (3 cohort) No association with frailty (1) No association with chronic conditions (1) No difference in self-rated health (1 RCT) No association of mortality with volunteering (3 cohort) No effect on self-rated health (1), only for environmental volunteering (1)	17
Lovell et al. (2015)	Increased grip strength (1) Significant increase in self-reported physical activity (3)	No significant improvements in aerobic capacity, BMI, weight, body composition, flexibility, blood pressure, balance or hip/waist ratio (1)	0
Milbourn et al. (2018)	Increase in physical domain of quality of life (1) Weakened the association between age and functional decline (1) Increased survival and self-perceived health benefits when combined with paid employment (1)	No significant differences in risk of accumulating chronic medical conditions (1)	− 8
O’Flynn et al. (2021)	55% of respondents reported health as ‘increased’ or ‘increased greatly’ (1)
Okun et al. (2013)	Reduced mortality by almost 50% (25), decreased to around 25% when adjusting for covariates		− 9
Onyx & Warburton (2003)	Reduction in mortality (2), reduced by sustained when controlling for covariates (2) Predicted positive health outcomes 30 years later (1) Reduced smoking and increased exercise (4) Reduced risk of institutionalisation (1) Increase in perceived health (6 cross sectional, 1 longitudinal) Increase in life satisfaction (1 longitudinal)
Bonsdorff & Rantanen (2011)	Improved self-rated health (5) Reduced disability in activities of daily living tasks (5) Lower levels of functional dependency (1 longitudinal) Increased physical activity (3) Positive trend towards improved physical functioning (1) Reduced mortality in older adults (5 prospective)	No association with number of self-reported physician-diagnosed chronic diseases (2) No prediction of living at a nursing home 7 years later (1)	− 14