Differences in symptom severity in hoarding disorder between those with and without attention deficit-hyperactivity...

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Hoarding disorder (HD) is frequently associated with inattention symptoms.
• Previous research on HD and inattention relied on self-report measures, limiting diagnostic accuracy.
• No studies have utilized structured diagnostic interviews to compare hoarding severity in HD patients with and without comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the severity of hoarding symptoms in patients diagnosed with HD, with and without comorbid ADHD, using structured diagnostic interviews.

Main Methods:

• Sixty-eight patients meeting HD criteria were assessed.
• Participants were divided into two groups: HD with ADHD (HD+ADHD) and HD without ADHD (HD-noADHD).
• Diagnosis was confirmed using the Conners' Adult ADHD Diagnostic Interview and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM.
• Hoarding symptom severity was measured using the Saving Inventory-Revised (SI-R), Hoarding Rating Scale-Self Report (HRS-SR), and Clutter Image Rating (CI-R).

Main Results:

• Twenty patients (29%) had comorbid ADHD.
• No significant differences in hoarding symptom severity were found between the HD+ADHD and HD-noADHD groups across all measures (SI-R, HRS-SR, CI-R).

Conclusions:

• The presence of comorbid ADHD does not appear to influence the severity of hoarding symptoms in individuals with hoarding disorder.
• Findings suggest that ADHD diagnosis is not a significant factor in determining hoarding severity.