Table 3.
Robustness to Unmeasured Confounding (E-Values) for the Associations Between Volunteering (≥100 Hours/Year vs 0 Hours/Year) and Subsequent Health and Well-Being (N=12,998)a
| Variable | Effect estimateb | CI limitc |
|---|---|---|
| Physical health | ||
| All-cause mortality | 2.97 | 2.17 |
| Number of chronic conditions | 1.20 | 1.00 |
| Diabetes | 1.43 | 1.00 |
| Hypertension | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Stroke | 1.46 | 1.00 |
| Cancer | 1.39 | 1.00 |
| Heart disease | 1.29 | 1.00 |
| Lung disease | 1.28 | 1.00 |
| Arthritis | 1.16 | 1.00 |
| Overweight/obesity | 1.11 | 1.00 |
| Physical functioning limitations | 1.70 | 1.25 |
| Cognitive impairment | 1.60 | 1.00 |
| Chronic pain | 1.29 | 1.00 |
| Self-rated health | 1.52 | 1.36 |
| Health behaviors | ||
| Binge drinking | 1.39 | 1.00 |
| Smoking | 1.50 | 1.00 |
| Frequent physical activity | 1.49 | 1.21 |
| Sleep problems | 1.11 | 1.00 |
| Psychological well-being | ||
| Positive affect | 1.51 | 1.37 |
| Life satisfaction | 1.27 | 1.00 |
| Optimism | 1.30 | 1.05 |
| Purpose in life | 1.44 | 1.27 |
| Mastery | 1.36 | 1.00 |
| Health mastery | 1.26 | 1.00 |
| Financial mastery | 1.37 | 1.00 |
| Psychological distress | ||
| Depression | 1.43 | 1.00 |
| Depressive symptoms | 1.29 | 1.07 |
| Hopelessness | 1.36 | 1.16 |
| Negative affect | 1.10 | 1.00 |
| Perceived constraints | 1.29 | 1.00 |
| Social factors | ||
| Loneliness | 1.31 | 1.06 |
| Contact children <1x/week | 1.11 | 1.00 |
| Contact other family <1x/week | 1.34 | 1.00 |
| Contact friends <1x/week | 2.17 | 1.81 |
See VanderWeele and Ding (2017) for the formula for calculating E-values.
The E-values for effect estimates are the minimum strength of association on the risk ratio scale that an unmeasured confounder would need to have with both the exposure and the outcome to fully explain away the observed association between the exposure and outcome, conditional on the measured covariates.
The E-values for the limit of the 95% CI closest to the null denote the minimum strength of association on the risk ratio scale that an unmeasured confounder would need to have with both the exposure and the outcome to shift the CI to include the null value, conditional on the measured covariates.