Hoarding behaviour in Xhosa patients with schizophrenia - prevalence and clinical presentation

Objective. Hoarding is commonly defined as the acquisition of and failure to discard possessions of little use or value, and is included as a symptom in the diagnostic criteria for obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). However, it has also been observed in other clinical syndromes including schizophrenia. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence and clinical presentation of hoarding behaviour in schizophrenia among Xhosa patients. Method. The sample consisted of 102 patients, recruited as part of a larger genetic study in the Cape Town metropole between November 2004 and January 2005, diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria. They were screened for clinically significant hoarding symptoms. If these were present, additional information on the phenomenology was obtained by means of a structured questionnaire. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) (screen and full version), the Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) Checklist, Y-BOCS, Clutter Image Rating Scale (CIRS) and a structured questionnaire on hoarding were administered. Results. Only four patients with schizophrenia were classified as hoarders. Although their clinical presentation resembled that of hoarders described elsewhere in the literature, they had low Y-BOCS scores and did not report other obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Conclusion. Our results suggest that hoarding behaviour is not common in Xhosa patients with schizophrenia. Further investigation of protective factors for hoarding behaviour in the Xhosa population is warranted.