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CompletedNCT04894851HCMUpdated May 20, 2021

Contingency Management for Hoarding Disorder

An interventional study of Contingency Management in Hoarding Disorder, sponsored by Hartford Hospital. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-05-20.

Sponsored by Hartford Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
13
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Aim 1: To test the efficacy of contingency management for patients with hoarding disorder (HD).

Hypothesis 1. Participants completing CM will show significant pre- to post-treatment decreases in severity of hoarding symptoms and clinician-rated impairment, and significant increases in quality of life.

Exploratory analyses will examine whether effect sizes compare with those of prior trials of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for HD conducted within our clinic, whether problem severity at follow-up is predicted by hoarding severity measured immediately after treatment completion, and whether readiness for change improves with treatment.

Read the detailed description

The primary aim of the current study is a preliminary investigation of the efficacy of contingency management (CM) in the treatment of hoarding disorder (HD). CM is a highly efficacious treatment that has been used to treat issues such as substance use disorders, medication/ medical regimen nonadherence, and schizophrenia. While the current best-practice treatment for HD (cognitive behavioral therapy; CBT) is efficacious in that it results in significant symptom reduction, many patients continue to have high levels of functional impairment and distressing symptoms after treatment completion. We strongly feel that CM is able to address many of the issues that arise in the context of CBT for hoarding and we feel that the addition of CM to as CBT will result in significant pre- to post-treatment decreases in severity of hoarding symptoms and impairment, and significant increases in quality of life.

02

Conditions studied

  • Hoarding Disorder

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Keywords

  • Hoarding Disorder
  • Contingency Management
  • Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
  • Group Therapy
03

In context

Hoarding Disorder

32 studies on the registry are indexed under Hoarding Disorder; 5 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 13 is below the median of 37 across 28 interventional studies indexed under Hoarding Disorder.

Browse Hoarding Disorder studies →

Lead sponsor

Hartford Hospital is the lead sponsor of 105 studies on the registry; 20 are open to participants now.

Of its 14 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 5 (36%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Diagnosed with Primary Hoarding Disorder,
  • currently participating in the Hoarding Disorder treatment group at the HH Anxiety Disorders Center

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Not clinically appropriate for a group treatment format (i.e., active suicidality or aggressive behavior, psychosis, current physiological substance dependence, or personality issues that would be expected to substantially interfere with the group milieu; cognitively intact).
  • Participants will also be excluded if they have previously completed CBT for HD.
  • In addition, participants in the CM portion of the treatment will be required to live within one hour travel time of the treatment facility to allow for home visits with the independent rater.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
13 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Contingency Management

    Receives contingency payments each month based on decluttering scores

    Behavioral: Contingency Management

Interventions

  • BehavioralContingency Management

    Participants in the current study will receive contingencies for improvement in clutter, as measured by a trained, independent in-home rater. Ratings will be completed by after study consent, and once every month thereafter, being conducted at weeks 0, 4, 8, 12, and 16 of treatment. Participants will be reimbursed for each new 1-point reduction in CIR score, a set dollar amount per month for each CIR point reduction they maintain from baseline. Therefore, a perfectly performing patient would earn reimbursement (A CIR reduction of 8 points made in the first month and maintained throughout treatment. If a CIR score is higher than the prior month, the reinforcement schedule will reset to zero.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Hoarding Rating Scale (HRS)

    A brief 5-item interview to rate clutter, difficulty discarding, acquisition, distress, and impairment. Each item is rated on a likert scale from 1 to 8, with higher scores reflective of higher symptom severity.

    Time frame: Change from week 1 (pre) to week 16 (post)

  2. Clutter Image Rating Scale

    A pictorial measure of clutter severity containing nine photographs depicting increasing levels of clutter. CIR Scores can range from 1 to 9, with picture 1 indicating an absence of clutter and 9 indicative of the highest level of clutter. Each available room will be rated.

    Time frame: Change from week 1 (pre) to week 16 (post)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Readiness Ruler

    The Readiness Ruler is a brief measure of motivation, which prompts patients with a 10-point likert scale on which they rate readiness, with a score of 0 reflecting "not ready," and a score of 10 reflecting "ready." The Readiness Ruler used in the current study will have patients rate both readiness for treatment and readiness for change.

    Time frame: Change from week 1 (pre) to week 16 (post)

  2. The World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL-BREF)

    Was developed by the World Health Organization and field-tested in 18 countries (including the United States) and contains 26 self-report questions, which measure the following broad domains: physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environment. These four scales can be summed to calculate a total quality of life (QOL) score, ranging from 0 (least favorable health status)to 100 (most favorable health status).

    Time frame: Change from week 1 (pre) to week 16 (post)

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Anxiety Disorders Center, Institute of Lilving
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106, United States
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 20, 2021, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04894851
Lead sponsor
Hartford Hospital
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
May 20, 2021
Start date
Aug 2013
Primary completion
Oct 2014
Completion
Oct 2014
Last update
May 20, 2021

Study contacts

Blaise L Worden, Ph.D.
principal investigator · Hartford Hospital

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in May 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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