OBJECTIVES: Varicose veins generate a considerable economic burden. The aim of our study was to calculate the annual health insurance treatment cost of varicose veins of lower extremities in Hungary.

METHODS: The data were derived from the financial database of the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund Administration (NHIFA), the only health care financing agency in Hungary. We analyzed the number of patients and the health insurance treatment cost for the year 2016. The following cost categories were included into the study: out-patient care, laboratory diagnostics, medical imaging, acute in-patient care, chronic in-patient care and drugs. Patients with varicose veins of lower extremities were identified with the following codes of the International Classification of Diseases 10^th revision: I83.

RESULTS: Number of patients admitted to in-patient hospital care was 11,685 (64.8 % women and 35.2 % men) with a mean age of 52.43 years (women: 53.08 years; men: 51.24 years). The number of patient underwent outpatient care was 146,307 (67.6 % women and 32.4 % men) with a mean age of 57.07 years (women: 57.21 years; men: 56.78 years). For the treatment of patients with varicose veins of lower extremities in 2016 the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund Administration spent 1.095 billion Hungarian Forint (HUF) which equals 3.89 million American Dollars (USD) or 4.22 million Japanese Yen (JPY). Major cost drivers were acute inpatient care (44.7 % of total health insurance costs), outpatient care (33.0 %) and pharmaceuticals (14.1 %).

CONCLUSIONS: Varicose veins of lower extremities represent a significant burden for the health insurance system. Most of the patients (64-67 %) are women. There is no significant difference in the onset of the disease between women and men.