Marco Polo

Dr. Marco Polo


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

7Years (2020-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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14 October 2020 in Healthcare
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
JTJuan De la Torre
Juan De la Torre
JMJavier Marin
Javier Marin
MPMarco Polo
Marco Polo
JMJose J. Marin
Jose J. Marin
Balance disorders have a high prevalence among elderly people in developed countries, and falls resulting from balance disorders involve high healthcare costs. Therefore, tools and indicators are necessary to assess the response to treatments. Therefore, the aim of this study is to detect relevant changes through minimal detectable change (MDC) values in patients with balance disorders, specifically with vertigo. A test-retest of a static and dynamic balance test was conducted on 34 healthy young volunteer subjects using a portable stabilometric platform. Afterwards, in order to show the MDC applicability, eight patients diagnosed with balance disorders characterized by vertigo of vestibular origin performed the balance test before and after a treatment, contrasting the results with the assessment by a specialist physician. The balance test consisted of four tasks from the Romberg test for static balance control, assessing dynamic postural balance through the limits of stability (LOS). The results obtained in the test-retest show the reproducibility of the system as being similar to or better than those found in the literature. Regarding the static balance variables with the lowest MDC value, we highlight the average velocity of the center of pressure (COP) in all tasks and the root mean square (RMS), the area, and the mediolateral displacement in soft surface, with eyes closed. In LOS, all COP limits and the average speed of the COP and RMS were highlighted. Of the eight patients assessed, an agreement between the specialist physician and the balance test results exists in six of them, and for two of the patients, the specialist physician reported no progression, whereas the balance test showed worsening. Patients showed changes that exceeded the MDC values, and these changes were correlated with the results reported by the specialist physician. We conclude that (at least for these eight patients) certain variables were sufficiently sensitive to detect changes linked to balance progression. This is intended to improve decision making and individualized patient monitoring.

1 July 2023 in Rehabilitación
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
MPMarco Polo
Marco Polo
BMB.B. Hidalgo Mendía
B.B. Hidalgo Mendía
RGR. Jariod Gaudes
R. Jariod Gaudes