[stimpson_j_cat]

Yes this is mentioned in the article

> the data cannot conclusively prove that coffee itself lowers the risk of dying; there may be other lifestyle factors contributing to that lower mortality risk among people who drink coffee, like a healthy diet or a consistent exercise routine

...and controlled for in the study

> lifestyle, sociodemographic, and clinical factors

[carbocation]

I would just caution people to understand that saying that something is "controlled for" in an observational study (which is something I do all the time, I'm not saying it's bad) is not the same as saying that we've eliminated confounders, leaving a causal effect.