Table 4. Influence of sex and type of RD on social implications (component 2) and functional impact (component 3; n = 524).

				n	Median	IQR	p value (Mann-Whitney U test)
Social implications (Component 2)	Sex	Diagnostic delay	Men	126	21	12–29	0.004*
			Women	217	25	18–30
		Diagnosis within a year	Men	75	16	9–26	0.003*
			Women	106	22	15–28
	Type of RD	Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue	DD	31	27	20–30	0.317
			<1 year	29	23	18–29
		Diseases of the nervous system	DD	109	24	18–30	0.091
			<1 year	46	21.5	13–27
		Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities	DD	48	28.5	22–32	0.012*
			<1 year	13	18	7–27
		Diseases of the eye and adnexa	DD	63	14	9–21	0.556
			<1 year	32	13.5	9–19.5
		Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases	DD	36	26.5	20–31	0.005*
			<1 year	13	19	14–24
		Others	DD	56	22	16–29	0.969
			<1 year	48	25	12.5–29
Functional impact (Component 3)	Sex	Diagnostic delay	Men	126	11	8–14	0.198
			Women	217	12	8–15
		Diagnosis within a year	Men	75	9	5–11	0.06*
			Women	106	10.5	6–14
	Type of RD	Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue	DD	31	11	8–13	0.87
			<1 year	29	10	9–14
		Diseases of the nervous system	DD	109	12	9–15	0.033*
			<1 year	46	11	6–13
		Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities	DD	48	12	8–14	0.060*
			<1 year	13	9	3–12
		Diseases of the eye and adnexa	DD	63	10	7–13	0.566
			<1 year	32	10	6–12.5
		Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases	DD	36	12.0	8.5–14.5	<0.001*
			<1 year	13	5.0	4–9
		Others	DD	56	9.0	6–13	0.743
			<1 year	48	9.0	6–14.5

RD = rare disease; DD = diagnostic delay; <1 year = diagnosis within a year; IQR = interquartile range

*An asterisk indicates significance at p0<0.05