Hoarding: a community health problem

Hoarding behaviour has been defined as the accumulation of possessions that are useless and that interfere with the ability to function. Severe hoardi ng may endanger not only the health and safety of he individual, but also t heir surrounding community. However, little information exists regarding th e frequency and seriousness of this problem. This study represents the firs t attempt to determine the frequency of complaints about hoarding behaviour to responding health departments in one state (Massachusetts) and to explo re the nature of these complaints. Eighty-eight health officers, serving a population of 1.79 million people, responded to a survey of complaints to l ocal boards of health about hoarding behaviour. Sixty-four percent of the h ealth officers reported at least one hoarding complaint during the five yea rs under study; 471 case complaints were reported. In-depth information on the nature and circumstances of complaints was collected for 58 cases. Comp laints typically involved multiple community agencies and occasionally resu lted. in significant cost to the community. Only half of the hoarders recog nized the lack of sanitation in their home, and fewer than one third of com plainants willingly co-operated to resolve the complaint against them. Hoar ding behaviours were judged to seriously jeopardize the health of the indiv idual and those around them. Hoarding behaviour that involved collecting an imals was more serious and difficult to deal with than non-animal hoarding.