GeoHealth: Geographic Information System for Health Management and Clinical, Epidemiological and Translational Research

The objective of the project is to develop a potentially marketable system for clinical, epidemiological and translational research capable of associating contextual variables and geospatial data with clinical patient information. The GeoHealth system will include a section to perform exploratory analysis that will help identify risk factors to optimize clinical decision making. The system will be used in a study of the influence of environmental factors in more than 800,000 asthmatic patients in the region of Andalucía, Spain. The results of this study will help to develop predictive models of risk of exacerbation in asthma patients. Currently, disease management guidelines state that asthma control has two components: current disease control and future risk of exacerbations. These two components are key when assessing disease management, following a stepwise model that seeks to improve current control and minimize future risk. However, although the current control of the disease is defined and has established methodologies for its measurement (Asthma Control Test -ACT- and Asthma Control Questionnaire -ACQ-), the risk of suffering exacerbations is not yet a measurable component. Therefore, these predictive models could help in professional decision making for asthmatic patients. The predictive models will be validated prospectively and implemented in a decision support system for the management of asthmatic patients.