SRDR+

1. Review ID

(surname of first author and year first full report of study was published e.g. Smith 2001)


	Milbourn 2018

2. Review title


	The relationship between time spent in volunteering activities and quality of life in adults over the age of 50 years: A systematic review

3. Date form completed


	09/08/2022

4. Initials of person extracting


	BN

5. Review funding source


	The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article

6. Possible conflicts of interest


	The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

7. Aim of review


	to analyse literature exploring the relationship between time spent volunteering and quality of life for adults over the age of 50 years. (a) analysing the literature for the amount of time spent in volunteering activities; (b) analysing the literature for the impact of volunteering on the physical, psychological and social domains that contribute to QoL.

8. Number of databases searched


	9

9. Names of databases searched; date ranges of databases searched


	Medline via the Offshore Vessel Inspection Database (OVID), the Cochrane Database, Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Wiley Online Library, PsychINFO, OTseeker, PubMed, Australian Public Affairs Information Service – Health (APAIS-Health) and the Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED).

10. Date of last search


	from January 2000 to April 2014 (the term ‘quality of life’ begins to appear after development of the international classification of functioning and international classification of diseases, after 2000).

11. Number of included studies


	8

12. Exclusion criteria for participants

(e.g age, comorbidities) 


	participants aged 50 years or over

13. Exclusion criteria for volunteering

(e.g type of volunteering, for a specific organistion/purpose)


	Time spent volunteering

14. Exclusion criteria for study type


	None

15. Exclusion criteria for outcome measures


	QoL physical, psychological and social domains

16. Outcomes studied

(select all that apply)


	Psychological Physical Social General

17. Primary reported outcomes


	Quality of life

18. Secondary reported outcomes (if applicable)


	Psychological, social, or physical domains of quality of life.

19. Number of participants included in the review


	sample size of volunteers ranging from 180 to 4860

20. Review’s included study type (% of quant studies)


	100% quant: one randomised controlled trial, one cross-sectional and six longitudinal studies.

21. Included studies countries of publication


	Seven out of the total eight studies were conducted in the cultural and societal context of the USA.

22. Range of included studies years of publication


	2002-2014

23. Review’s population

(age, ethnicity, SES)


	The majority of the study participants were women, Caucasian, with median household incomes ranging from US$10,000–US$80,000 and a variety of education levels. Levels of time spent volunteering by participants within the studies varied considerably ranged from 2 hours per month to 1878 hours per year).

24. Social outcomes reported


	Positive association between social domain of quality of life, significantly associated with quality of life (1). All levels of volunteering predicted availability of social suppprt from friends and neighbours (2), and increased positive exchanges compared to non-volunteers (1). Volunteering predicted positive social ties (1).

25. Social outcomes not supported

(e.g cited as non-significant)


	Volunteering predicted negative social ties (1).

26. Physical outcomes reported


	Positive association between physical domain of quality of life, significantly associated with quality of life (1). Volunteering weakened the association between age and functional decline compared to non-volunteers (1)- potential moderator. Volunteering combined with paid employment for over 100h per year increased survival and self-perceived health benefits (1).

27. Physical outcomes not supported

(e.g cited as non-significant)


	No significant differences were found for risk of accumulating chronic medical conditions and volunteering (1).

28. Psychological outcomes reported


	Positive association between psychological domain of quality of life, significantly associated with quality of life (1). 7 studies measured this using self-rated scales: between one and 10 hours of volunteering per month (or up to 120 hours annually) had a significant positive effect on psychological QoL, above that there was no effect (1). volunteering was associated with decreased depression levels (at all volunteering frequencies) (1). Low level (under 100h per year) predicted a slower decline in psychological wellbeing (1) and mental health (1). Volunteering for over 7 hours per weak significantly predicted life satisfaction (1).

29. Psychological outcomes not supported

(e.g cited as non-significant)


	Volunteering did not predict psychological wellbeing (combination of life satisfaction and mental health scores) compared to non-volunteers (1).

30. General outcomes reported

(i.e general health and wellbeing)

31. General outcomes not supported

(e.g cited as non-significant) 

32. Interactions reported

(i.e between each other or demographic variables)


	The effect on all 3 domains of quality of life was found to be curvilinear, wherein increased benefits were found with increased time commitment, up to 100 hours per year. Benefits were established from two to three hours monthly, up to a maximum amount of two to three hours weekly (100 hours per year) (1). No association above this, same curvilinear relationship was found, but the cutoff was 4 full days per week (1). No linear relationship, only above 100 hours per year ha a positive effect on health outcomes (1). Both single and dual activity participants found an increase in psychological wellbeing, but dual activity participants saw it slightly higher (1). Similarly, participants who participated in dual-activities (both volunteering and paid employment) exhibited better physical health (self-perceived, difficulties with daily living activities, and number of chronic health conditions), in comparison to single-activity participants (1). increased availability of social support from family members from volunteering positively influenced the association between wellbeing and volunteering (1)- possible moderator?.

The effect on all 3 domains of quality of life was found to be curvilinear, wherein increased benefits were found with increased time commitment, up to 100 hours per year. Benefits were established from two to three hours monthly, up to a maximum amount of two to three hours weekly (100 hours per year) (1). No association above this, same curvilinear relationship was found, but the cutoff was 4 full days per week (1). No linear relationship, only above 100 hours per year ha a positive effect on health outcomes (1). 
Both single and dual activity participants found an increase in psychological wellbeing, but dual activity participants saw it slightly higher (1). Similarly, participants who participated in dual-activities (both volunteering and paid employment) exhibited better physical health (self-perceived, difficulties with daily living activities, and number of chronic health conditions), in comparison to single-activity participants (1).
increased availability of social support from family members from volunteering positively influenced the association between wellbeing and volunteering (1)- possible moderator?.

33. Was a meta-analysis performed?

34. Number of included studies in the meta-analysis

35. Heterogeneity

(e.g I squared)

36. Pooled estimates

37. Confidence intervals (95%)

38. Key conclusions from study authors


	Levels of time spent volunteering by participants within the studies varied considerably. Articles retrieved reported positive quality of life outcomes including increases in life satisfaction, self-esteem and social support and a slowed functional decline. The findings provide evidence to suggest that time spent in volunteering is beneficial for this age group and positively impacts on psychological, social and physical QoL domains. The eight studies identified through the search criteria suggest there is no agreed or ideal amount of required time spent in volunteering activities when investigating any positive impact of volunteering on QoL domains for adults over the age of 50. The results of these studies indicate that additional research is merited to further investigate the mediating effect of social support.

39. Review limitations


	Studies included were mainly conducted in the United States (USA) and involved Caucasian women. This is a major limitation in terms of sample representation and generalisability to other groups and cultures within western society. Another potential source of bias to the studies included is referral or volunteer bias. Volunteer bias may result in unrepresentative numbers of volunteers participating in the studies, as volunteers are ‘more likely to participate in unpaid research’. A limitation of the identified studies within the systematic review is the method used to measure time as most used self-report methodology (may introduce error).

40. AMSTAR 2 quality appraisal rating


	-8

41. Quality appraisal tool used by review (if applicable)


	Kmet et al. (2004) assessment tool. The tool is a justified scoring system that ‘provides a systematic, reproducible and quantitative means of simultaneously assessing the quality of research encompassing a broad range of study designs’. (includes random allocation, blinding, confoundings)

42. Quality of included studies (if applicable)


	14 articles were removed based on quality, so that only those with a score above 55% were included.

43. Publication bias reported (if applicable)


	N/A

44. Was correspondence required for further study information?

45. What further correspondence was required, and from whom?

46. What further study information was requested (from whom, what and when)?

47. What correspondence was received (from whom, what and when)?

Extraction form for project: The effect of volunteering on the health and wellbeing of volunteers: an umbrella review

Design Details