Exploring Adverse Drug Effect Data with Apache Spark, Hadoop, and Docker

Abstract

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs), a subset of the broader adverse events (AEs), have been shown in several studies to have a considerable burden on healthcare costs and patient outcomes. ADRs account for a significant increase in patient morbidity, mortality, and additional healthcare costs. In this presentation, we explore ADRs and AEs from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) data set. Using big data analysis tools from the Hadoop ecosystem, including Apache Spark, we analyze the FAERS data and discuss interesting trends and observations in the 10+ year historical data set.