You are investigating the role of physical activity in heart disease, and your data suggest a protective effect. While presenting your findings, a colleague asks whether you have thought about confounders, such as factor X. Under which of the following conditions could this factor have confounded your interpretation of the data?
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: A confounder must be associated with both the exposure (physical activity) and the outcome (heart disease), and it should not lie on the causal pathway between them.