A novel recommender framework with chatbot to stratify heart attack risk

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Cardiovascular diseases are a major cause of mortality and morbidity. Fast detection of life-threatening emergency events and an earlier start of the therapy would save many lives and reduce successive disabilities. Understanding the specific risk factors associated with heart attack and the degree of association is crucial in the clinical diagnosis. Considering the potential benefits of intelligent models in healthcare, many researchers have developed a variety of machine learning (ML)-based models to identify patients at risk of a heart attack. However, the common problem of previous works that used ML concepts was the lack of transparency in black-box models, which makes it difficult to understand how the model made the prediction. In this study, an automated smart recommender system (Explainable Artificial Intelligence) for heart attack prediction and risk stratification was developed. For the purpose, the CatBoost classifier was applied as the initial step. Then, the SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanation) explainable algorithm was employed to determine reasons behind high or low risk classification. The recommender system can provide insights into the reasoning behind the predictions, including group-based and patient-specific explanations. In the final step, we integrated a Large Language Model (LLM) called BioMistral for chatting functionally to talk to users based on the model output as a digital doctor for consultation. Our smart recommender system achieved high accuracy in predicting a patient risk level with an average AUC of 0.88 and can explain the results transparently. Moreover, a Django-based online application that uses patient data to update medical information about an individual’s heart attack risk was created. The LLM chatbot component would answer user questions about heart attacks and serve as a virtual companion on the route to heart health, our system also can locate nearby hospitals by applying Google Maps API and alert the users. The recommender system could improve patient management and lower heart attack risk while timely therapy aids in avoiding subsequent disabilities.