Assistant Professor
Email: pablomolinag5@ugr.es
Dr. Molina-García holds a degree in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences and a PhD in Biomedicine from the University of Granada and KU Leuven (Belgium). His doctoral research focused on childhood obesity biomechanics and exercise interventions for musculoskeletal health. During his postdoctoral work, he collaborated with Huawei Technologies and the INTERLIVE consortium on wearable health technologies, and with Virgen de las Nieves Hospital on hip fracture telerehabilitation. His current research explores digital health solutions (eHealth/mHealth) for musculoskeletal disorder prevention and rehabilitation. Currently serving as Assistant Professor at the Department of Physical Education and Sports, University of Granada, Melilla’s campus.
Contribution: The most comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis to date evaluating whether telerehabilitation is effective and cost-efficient for treating musculoskeletal disorders. We analyzed 37 clinical studies and 5 economic studies involving over 4,000 participants. Overall, telerehabilitation proved more effective than standard care or control treatments for clinical outcomes like physical condition, functionality, and pain in conditions such as osteoarthritis, osteoporotic fractures, and back pain. However, it was neither more nor less effective than in-person rehabilitation therapies, though evidence was more limited. Nevertheless, telerehabilitation represents a valuable alternative when in-person sessions aren’t feasible, offering additional time and cost savings.
Contribution: In this study we evaluated whether our ActiveHip+ intervention – a health education and telerehabilitation app – could improve physical recovery in elderly patients after hip fracture. We included 105 patients and their caregivers across three Andalusian hospitals. At three months post-surgery, ActiveHip+ users showed better physical performance than those receiving standard care, though this improvement wasn’t maintained at one year. No adverse effects were recorded during the intervention. While the program has already been implemented in hospitals across Spain, Belgium, and Portugal, we acknowledge its effectiveness depends on caregiver support and that further improvements are needed to achieve lasting benefits.
Contribution: This systematic review investigated whether overweight/obesity alters walking patterns in children/adolescents compared to normal-weight peers. Strong evidence shows they exhibit: greater transverse pelvic rotation, increased hip internal rotation and flexion/extension/abduction moments, and greater knee abduction/adduction range of motion and loading. Moderate evidence indicates: wider step width, prolonged stance phase, higher tibiofemoral contact forces, increased ankle plantarflexion moments, and greater gastrocnemius activation during propulsion. These biomechanical patterns may underlie their higher risk of musculoskeletal disorders.
Contribution: This review assessed the accuracy of wearables for VO2max estimation. Our meta-analysis (14 studies) revealed that devices using resting-state algorithms significantly overestimated VO2max (bias: +2.17 ml·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹; LoA: -13.07 to 17.41), while exercise-based algorithms showed greater precision (bias: -0.09 ml·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹; LoA: -9.92 to 9.74). Through the INTERLIVE consensus, we proposed six key domains for future validation protocols: target population, reference standard, testing conditions, data processing, and statistical analysis. We conclude that exercise-based wearables are more accurate at population level, though individual-level errors remain substantial for clinical/sports applications. Our recommendations aim to improve validity, transparency and comparability in future validations.
Contribution: Our study demonstrated that 13 weeks of integrative neuromuscular training prevents worsening of key gait parameters in children with overweight/obesity. Compared to controls, our exercise program prevented increases in stance time, reduced excessive foot abduction, and improved pelvic and ankle control during walking. These findings suggest this training approach may help prevent musculoskeletal alterations and maintain more efficient gait mechanics in this population.
