Comparison of hoarding obsessive compulsive disorder patients and non-hoarding obsessive compulsive disorder patients with healthy controls in terms of executive functions

Background: This study aims to expand the small number of studies in this field and to evaluate the cognitive-clinical features of hoarding in more detail by comparing hoarding OCD, non-hoarding OCD and healthy control groups in terms of comorbidity, depressive and anxiety symptoms, impulsivity levels and executive functions. Material and Methods: In this study, 29 OCD hoarders, 29 OCD non-hoarders and 30 healthy individuals participated. Participants were administered Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders (SCID-I), Hoarding Rating Scale, Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, Hoarding Inventory-Revised Form, Beck Depression Scale, Beck Anxiety Scale, Barratt Impulsivity Scale. In addition, the Number Sequence Test, Trail Making Test, Stroop Test, Wisconsin Card Matching Test, Istanbul Five Cube Planning Tower Test and Iowa Gambling Test were administered. The data obtained were statistically analyzed. Results: In the study, the Hoarding Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder groups were found to be similar in terms of disease severity (p=0.786) and depression levels (p>0.05). However, the Hoarding Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder group had significantly higher anxiety levels (p<0.05), and the lifetime rate of psychiatric diagnosis was also significantly higher in this group (p=0.018). In terms of neuropsychological test performance, the two groups were similar (p>0.05). The patient groups showed lower performance than the healthy control group in cognitive flexibility and decision-making tests (p<0.05). There were no significant differences between the three groups in terms of response inhibition and planning skills (p>0.05). In terms of processing speed, the Hoarding Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder group showed similar performance to the other two groups (p>0.05); however, the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder group scored lower than the healthy controls (p<0.05). Additionally, the Compulsive Hoarding Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder group had higher impulsivity levels than the other two groups (p<0.05), and significant positive correlations were found between hoarding and impulsivity (p<0.05). Conclusion: This study highlights the high levels of inattention and impulsivity in patients with hoarding obsessive-compulsive disorder and indicates the need for further research into pharmacological treatments for this patient group. Keywords: Executive Functioning, Hoarding, Impulsivity, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder