title: Quality of life and functional impairment in compulsive hoarding.
abstract: Compulsive hoarding patients have been found in previous studies to have substantial disability and functional impairment. However, no prior study has examined subjective and objective quality of life (QOL) in patients with compulsive hoarding. This present study compared compulsive hoarders and non-hoarding OCD patients across a variety of QOL domains. Subjects were 171 consecutive adult patients (34 compulsive hoarders, 137 non-hoarding patients with DSM-IV OCD) treated openly between 1998 and 2004 in the UCLA OCD Partial Hospitalization Program (OCD PHP), a specialized, intensive, multi-modal treatment program for treatment-refractory patients. Scores on the Quality of Life Scale and other symptom severity measures on admission were compared between compulsive hoarders and non-hoarding OCD patients. Compulsive hoarders were older and had lower global functioning than non-hoarding OCD patients. Both groups had low overall QOL scores across multiple domains. Compulsive hoarders had significantly lower levels of satisfaction with their safety than non-hoarding OCD patients, were more often the victims of both violent and non-violent crime, felt less safe in their neighborhoods, and felt less protected against attack. Compulsive hoarders were also much less satisfied with their living arrangements than non-hoarding OCD patients. No differences were found on financial variables, but the vast majority of patients in both groups were unemployed. Compulsive hoarders have lower QOL than non-hoarding OCD patients in the domains of safety and living situation. Psychosocial rehabilitation that focuses on problems with victimization, safety, employment, and financial areas may be a beneficial augmentation to treatment for compulsive hoarding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California at San Diego, 140 Arbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92103, United States. ssaxena@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Sanjaya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saxena
authors.forename: Catherine R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Ayers
authors.forename: Karron M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Maidment
authors.forename: Tanya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vapnik
authors.forename: Julie L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Wetherell
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bystritsky
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life; D055815:Young Adult
references.citation: Clin Psychol Rev. 2003 Dec;23(7):905-27
references.pmid: 14624821
references.citation: Psychiatry Res. 2008 Aug 15;160(2):200-11
references.pmid: 18597855
references.citation: Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2006 Aug;41(8):662-8
references.pmid: 16721502
references.citation: Compr Psychiatry. 2004 Sep-Oct;45(5):375-83
references.pmid: 15332201
references.citation: Am J Hum Genet. 2002 Apr;70(4):896-904
references.pmid: 11840360
references.citation: Health Soc Work. 2001 Aug;26(3):176-84
references.pmid: 11531193
references.citation: Can J Psychiatry. 2003 Mar;48(2):72-7
references.pmid: 12655903
references.citation: Behav Res Ther. 2004 Oct;42(10):1163-82
references.pmid: 15350856
references.citation: J Anxiety Disord. 2006;20(5):675-86
references.pmid: 16112837
references.citation: J Clin Psychiatry. 2002 Jan;63(1):21-7
references.pmid: 11838621
references.citation: Psychopathology. 2003 Sep-Oct;36(5):255-62
references.pmid: 14571055
references.citation: Depress Anxiety. 2008;25(3):248-59
references.pmid: 17352377
references.citation: Psychiatr Serv. 1998 Mar;49(3):379-81
references.pmid: 9525801
references.citation: Behav Res Ther. 1993 May;31(4):367-81
references.pmid: 8512538
references.citation: J Anxiety Disord. 2005;19(7):767-79
references.pmid: 16076423
references.citation: Psychiatr Serv. 1996 Feb;47(2):170-4
references.pmid: 8825254
references.citation: Psychol Med. 2009 Feb;39(2):325-36
references.pmid: 18485263
references.citation: Behav Res Ther. 1996 Apr;34(4):341-50
references.pmid: 8871366
references.citation: Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1989 Nov;46(11):1006-11
references.pmid: 2684084
references.citation: Psychiatr Serv. 1999 Mar;50(3):412-4
references.pmid: 10096650
references.citation: Behav Res Ther. 2008 Jul;46(7):836-44
references.pmid: 18495084
references.citation: Compr Psychiatry. 2008 Jan-Feb;49(1):43-50
references.pmid: 18063040
references.citation: Am J Psychiatry. 1996 Jun;153(6):783-8
references.pmid: 8633690
references.citation: Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Apr 16;34(3):463-8
references.pmid: 20109511
references.citation: Behav Res Ther. 2000 Nov;38(11):1071-81
references.pmid: 11060936
references.citation: Br J Psychiatry Suppl. 1995 Apr;(27):19-22
references.pmid: 7794589
references.citation: Am J Psychiatry. 2005 Jun;162(6):1171-8
references.pmid: 15930066
references.citation: Compr Psychiatry. 2006 Jul-Aug;47(4):270-5
references.pmid: 16769301
references.citation: J Nerv Ment Dis. 1998 May;186(5):311-5
references.pmid: 9612449
references.citation: Health Soc Care Community. 2000 Jul;8(4):229-234
references.pmid: 11560692
references.citation: Behav Res Ther. 2009 Aug;47(8):705-9
references.pmid: 19457476
references.citation: Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2005 Mar;39(3):169-74
references.pmid: 15701066
references.citation: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1960 Feb;23:56-62
references.pmid: 14399272
references.citation: J Psychiatr Res. 2007 Sep;41(6):481-7
references.pmid: 16790250
references.citation: Turk Psikiyatri Derg. 2005 Spring;16(1):13-9
references.pmid: 15793694
references.citation: Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1976 Jun;33(6):766-71
references.pmid: 938196
references.citation: CNS Spectr. 2008 Sep;13(9 Suppl 14):16-22
references.pmid: 18849907
references.citation: Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2010 Feb;25(2):142-9
references.pmid: 19548272
references.citation: Mol Psychiatry. 2009 Mar;14(3):318-31
references.pmid: 18180763
references.citation: Eur Psychiatry. 2001 Jun;16(4):239-45
references.pmid: 11418275
references.citation: J Clin Psychiatry. 2005 Sep;66(9):1155-60
references.pmid: 16187774
references.citation: Behav Res Ther. 2005 Feb;43(2):269-76
references.pmid: 15629755
references.citation: BMC Psychiatry. 2006 May 09;6:20
references.pmid: 16684346
references.citation: Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 1996 Mar;31(2):78-88
references.pmid: 8881088
references.citation: Compr Psychiatry. 2005 Nov-Dec;46(6):453-9
references.pmid: 16275213
references.citation: Am J Psychiatry. 2004 Jun;161(6):1038-48
references.pmid: 15169692
references.citation: Depress Anxiety. 2001;14(4):214-8
references.pmid: 11754128
references.citation: Behav Res Ther. 2002 May;40(5):517-28
references.pmid: 12043707
references.citation: Am J Psychiatry. 2009 Oct;166(10):1156-61
references.pmid: 19687130
references.citation: Psychiatr Serv. 2000 Jul;51(7):908-13
references.pmid: 10875957