According to an article in the Wall Street Journal citing a recent study in the Annals of Internal Medicine, African-Americans with ICDs were 14% more likely to have complications than white patients with implantable defibrillators, and while women with ICDs were 16% more likely to have complications than men with implantable defibrillators.

The sex-based differences were attributed to the fact that women are generally diagnosed with heart disease later than men, and the fact the device testing process largely omits women, while the race-based differences were less clear, but may have resulted from diminished access to health care by African-American patients.