TEAM
Predicting Coronary Heart Disease
Sriram Raghunath, Shanise Walker, Rachel Appel, Henri Antikainen, Melanie King
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States (US) and the most common type of heart disease is coronary heart disease. Each year many families and individuals are impacted by diagnoses of coronary heart disease or death caused by coronary heart disease. While many people may understand biological or medical risk factors that place them at higher risks for developing coronary heart disease, there is still a gap in understanding how lifestyle choices and cultures also impact the development of coronary heart disease. We use predictive modeling techniques to determine which risk factors and lifestyle choices impact and place people at higher risk for developing coronary heart disease. The predictions of our models show that the top three risk factors that predict coronary heart disease are having high cholesterol, being in a household without a computer, and being 25+ years old without a 4-year college degree.