Introduction: This chapter describes the characteristics of adult patients on renal replacement therapy (RRT) in the UK in 2012. Methods: Data were electronically collected from all 71 renal centres within the UK. A series of cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses were performed to describe the demographics of prevalent RRT patients in 2012 at centre and national level. Results: There were 54,824 adult patients receiving RRT in the UK on 31st December 2012. The UK adult prevalence of RRT was 861 pmp. This represented an annual increase in absolute prevalent numbers of approximately 3.7%, although there was variation between centres and Primary Care and Health Board areas. The actual number of patients increased across all modalities: 2.3% haemodialysis (HD), 0.3% peritoneal dialysis (PD) and 5.6% for those with a functioning transplant. The number of patients receiving home HD has increased by 19.3% since 2011. Median RRT vintage for patients on HD was 3.4 years, PD 1.7 years and for those patients with a transplant, 10.2 years. The median age of prevalent patients was 58 years (HD 66 years, PD 63 years, transplant 52 years) compared to 55 years in 2005. For all ages the prevalence rate in men exceeded that in women. The most common recorded renal diagnosis was glomerulonephritis (biopsy proven/not biopsy proven) (18.8%). Transplantation was the most common treatment modality (50.4%) Conclusions: The HD and transplant population continued to expand; the decline in the size of the prevalent PD population has plateaued. There were national, regional and dialysis centre level variations in prevalence rates. Prevalent patients were on average three years older than the prevalent RRT cohort 7 years ago. This has continued implications for service planning and ensuring equity of care for RRT patients.
