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Previous study findings have shown sex and race differences in the use of a variety of medical treatments in the U.S. Reasons for these differences may include patient preferences, differences in comorbidities, local variability in population characteristics or resources, and provider bias in offering medical technologies. In two new studies, researchers from the Duke Clinical Research Institute compared the use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) in eligible patients stratified by sex and race.
In the first study, the investigators used data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from 1999 through 2005. Diagnosis codes indicating acute MI and either heart failure or cardiomyopathy were used to identify patien…