OBJECTIVES: The clinical significance of intracranial injuries is due to their high prevalence and high mortality. The aim of our study was to determine the epidemiological disease burden of intracranial injury.

METHODS: Data were derived from the financial database of the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund Administration (NHIFA), for the year 2018. Data analysed included annual patient numbers, case numbers and prevalence of care utilisation per 100,000 population according to age groups and sex. The following health insurance treatment categories were included into our study: general practice care, home care, in- and outpatient care, medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics, drugs and medical aids. Patients with intracranial injury were identified with the following code of the International Classification of Diseases 10^th revision: S06.

RESULTS: The highest national patient numbers were in CT diagnostics: 10,019 men and 8,950 women, in total 18,969 patients, followed by outpatient care (7,748 men and 6,461 women, in total 14,209 patients), and general practice care (6,529 men and 5,800 women, in total 12,329). Based on patient numbers requiring hospital care in the acute inpatient care, prevalence in 100,000 among men was 91.9 patients, among women 56.2 patients, in total 73.2. Average age of patients of inpatient care was 51.9 years, there was significant difference (5.0 years) between men (49.9 years) and women (54.9 years). As regards sex distribution in the use of CT diagnostics: 52.8% of patients were men, 47.2% were women, in outpatient care men accounted for 54.5%, women for 45.5% of patients.

CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of intracranial injury was 1.63-times higher among men than among women. Average age of women was 5.0 years higher than that of men. High patient numbers are attributable to the fact that in the case of patients with intracranial injury CT is the primary diagnostic method.