Researchers from IDIAPJGol propose using artificial intelligence and big data to understand the health status of ancestors

The study highlights that the place where people live and where their ancestors lived determines their health, and for this reason, it is important to consider the geographical history of patients

An opinion article published by the Jordi Gol Institute for Primary Care Research (IDIAPJGol), in collaboration with the Information System for the Development of Research in Primary Care (SIDIAP), published in the journal Health and Place, proposes integrating geospatial health, medical informatics, and artificial intelligence to understand the health determinants of individuals.

There is growing scientific evidence on the impact that the health of parents, especially the mother, has on the health of their sons and daughters during adulthood. The influence of the mother's health during pregnancy, and even before, is well known. In addition to factors such as nutrition, body composition, and the lifestyle of biological parents, focus is now being placed on the environmental and socioeconomic conditions related to the place of residence, which can also affect the health of future children. This influence is also exerted by the health determinants of generations prior to the parents.

Improving the health of future generations
Researchers from IDIAPJGol and members of SIDIAP, Elena Segundo, Jordi Carrere, María Aragón, and Roger Mallol, authors of the article, point out that "the integration of the geographical history of patients into their medical records could provide crucial contextual information to Primary Care professionals, which would allow for improved risk detection and optimized health outcomes for future generations." The vast amount of health data available from patient medical records provides an ideal context for this type of long-term analysis.

Ethical frameworks
Despite the great potential of this line of research, this opinion article warns that important challenges related to privacy, ethics, and technical aspects still need to be overcome. According to the researchers who carried out the work, it is necessary to ensure that ethical frameworks are adequate to protect data confidentiality and to ensure that participants are well informed and understand the risks and benefits of this research.

Article reference
Segundo E, Carrere-Molina J, Aragón M, Mallol-Parera R. Advancing geospatial preconception health research in primary care through medical informatics and artificial intelligence. Health Place. 2024 Sep;89:103337. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2024.103337. Epub 2024 Aug 15. PMID: 39151214.