Hoarding and Treatment Response in 38 Nondepressed Subjects With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Objective: The authors studied factors associated with short-termtreatment response in 38 nondepressed subjects with DSM-III-R obsessive-compulsivedisorder (OCD).

Method: The subjects completed 12 weeks of treatment with paroxetine(N = 20), placebo (N = 8), or cognitive-behavioral therapy(N = 10). Clinician and self-rated measures were gathered at baseline, duringtreatment, and after treatment.

Results: Seventeen (45%) subjects had “much” or “verymuch” improvement and achieved at least a 40% decrease in their total Yale-BrownObsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) score. Responders had lower obsessive-compulsive scoreson the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised, had a lower checking score on the MaudsleyObsessive-Compulsive Inventory, were less likely to have had prior drug therapy, and ingeneral suffered more obsessive-compulsive symptoms. They were significantly less likelyto have hoarding obsessions and corresponding compulsions. The latter finding wasconfirmed using multiple regression analysis.

Conclusion: Hoarding is an important symptom that predicts poor treatmentresponse in patients with OCD.