Healthcare use, costs and quality of life in patients with end-stage kidney disease receiving conservative management: results from a multi-centre observational study (PACKS).

The importance of this study is twofold. First, it provides substantive new information for health and social care planning of conservative management by demonstrating where demand exists for services, in both the United Kingdom and other countries with a comparable health service structure. Second, methodologically, it indicates that it is feasible to collect service use data directly from this patient population.