Hoarding e disturbo ossessivo-compulsivo (DOC): due entità cliniche distinte in comorbilità o hoarding secondario al DOC?

Introduction

Like most human behaviours, saving and collecting possessions can range from totally normal to excessive or pathological. Hoarding, or compulsive hoarding, are the terms used to refer to excessive form of collecting, which is frequent and disabling for both patients and their families. Hoarding can occur in the context of a variety of neurological and psychiatric conditions; nevertheless, in the last twenty years, it has been considered only as a symptom (or dimension) of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Recent literature data suggest that hoarding could represent an independent disorder. This leads to a complex issue: what relationship exists between hoarding and OCD? The aim of the present study is to identify, through a review of literature data, psychopathological and clinical features to distinguish the different possible conditions when hoarding and OCD coexist.

Materials and methods

We carried out a search on PubMed/MedLine from 1966 to nowadays. We selected both clinical and review studies, written in English.

Results and discussion

There are two conditions when hoarding and OCD coexist: hoarding as a symptom of OCD, epiphenomenon of the other obsessive-compulsive symptoms; or hoarding disorder as an independent clinical entity comorbid with OCD. In this review, we tried to provide handy and practical information useful for clinicians to characterize the presentation of hoarding symptoms. Furthermore, these information should help clinicians to make a differential diagnosis. Despite some clinical evidences about hoarding, there are several questions that remain to be answered; therefore, additional clinical studies are needed with a more homogeneous methodology.