NCT04697849

Brief Summary

Hoarding Disorder (HD) is serious and disabling in Veterans. Present in up to 7% of Veterans and even higher symptom rates in older Veterans; HD contributes to functional impairment and poor quality of life. Cognitive Rehabilitation and Exposure/Sorting Therapy (CREST) has shown promising functional improvement and symptom reduction. To reduce burdens and barriers to implementation of CREST, the proposed project will individualize CREST based on cognitive testing and participant preferences, provide all care in the participant's home through telemedicine and home visits, and shorten the timeframe of treatment. A randomized controlled trial comparing 24 sessions of Personalized-CREST to case management for 130 adult Veterans with HD is proposed. Multifaceted functional and recovery outcomes including quality of life, HD severity, and sustained recovery outcomes will be examined throughout treatment and follow-up. By advancing the knowledge of the rehabilitative care of HD, we can interrupt the trajectory of this chronic and debilitating condition.

Trial Health

87
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
60

participants targeted

Target at P25-P50 for not_applicable

Timeline
Completed

Started Jun 2022

Longer than P75 for not_applicable

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
completed

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

December 28, 2020

Completed
9 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

January 6, 2021

Completed
1.4 years until next milestone

Study Start

First participant enrolled

June 1, 2022

Completed
3.2 years until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

August 1, 2025

Completed
1 month until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

September 1, 2025

Completed
Last Updated

December 10, 2025

Status Verified

December 1, 2025

Enrollment Period

3.2 years

First QC Date

December 28, 2020

Last Update Submit

December 2, 2025

Conditions

Keywords

hoardingOCDcognitive rehabilitationexposure therapy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

  • World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0) Change

    World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0) A 36-item, six domain (Cognitive, Mobility, Self-Care, Getting Along, Household, Work, Participation) assessment instrument developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide a standardized method for measuring health and disability across cultures. The WHODAS has demonstrated high internal consistency, domain-specific reliability, and concurrent validity with similar disability measures. Total scores range from 0-100. Change is being assessed from baseline to post-treatment and again at follow-up.

    Baseline, 1.5 months, 3 months, and 9 months

  • Activities of Daily Living in Hoarding Scale Change

    The Activities of Daily Living in Hoarding Scale is a 15-item measure that assesses functional impairments in daily activities due to hoarding behavior. The ADL-H assesses a respondents' ability to fulfill basic needs such as prepare meals, utilize appliances and furniture, move around the home, and exit the home. The ADL-H has demonstrated good test-retest reliability, internal and inter-rater reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity. Total scores range from 0-75. Change is being assessed from baseline to post-treatment and again at follow-up.

    Baseline, 1.5 months, 3 months, and 9 months

  • PROMIS-43 Profile v2.1 Change

    The PROMIS-43 Profile v2.1 consists of a fixed collection of 6-item sets to assess global health and functioning (in physical, mental, and social domains). The PROMIS-43 assesses anxiety, depression, fatigue, pain interference, pain intensity (1-item), physical functioning, sleep disturbance, and ability to participate in social roles and activities. Substantial evidence supports the validity, reliability, and responsiveness to change of the PROMIS measures among adults with and without medical and mental health conditions. Total scores range from 0-275. Change is being assessed from baseline to post-treatment and again at follow-up.

    Baseline, 1.5 months, 3 months, and 9 months

  • Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders (Neuro-QoL) Positive Affect and Well-Being Short form Change

    Quality of Life will be assessed using the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders (Neuro-QoL) Positive Affect and Well-Being Short form, a 9-item self-report measure that assesses sense of well-being, life satisfaction, purpose, and learning. The Neuro-QoL has demonstrated good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity. A total score will be used for analyses and scores range from 0-9. Change is being assessed from baseline to post-treatment and again at follow-up.

    Baseline, 1.5 months, 3 months, and 9 months

Secondary Outcomes (2)

  • Savings Inventory-Revised (SI-R) Change

    Baseline, 1.5 months, 3 months, and 9 months

  • Clutter Image Rating Scale (CIR) Change

    Baseline, 1.5 months, 3 months, and 9 months

Study Arms (2)

CREST

EXPERIMENTAL

Cognitive Rehabilitation and Exposure/Sorting Therapy (CREST) provides training in compensatory cognitive strategies to address the executive dysfunction typical of individuals with HD, then helps reduce the distress associated with discarding items via exposure therapy.

Behavioral: Cognitive Rehabilitation and Exposure/Sorting Therapy

Case Management

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Case Management (CM). CM is the most widely available and utilized intervention for HD and is considered standard of care. This form of treatment involves managing the functional, housing, and legal ramifications of HD. Additionally, CM often involves assistance with economic, health, and social resources while providing support for the client.

Behavioral: Case Management

Interventions

Case ManagementBEHAVIORAL

Case Management (CM). CM is the most widely available and utilized intervention for HD and is considered standard of care. This form of treatment involves managing the functional, housing, and legal ramifications of HD. Additionally, CM often involves assistance with economic, health, and social resources while providing support for the client.

Case Management

Cognitive Rehabilitation and Exposure/Sorting Therapy (CREST) provides training in compensatory cognitive strategies to address the executive dysfunction typical of individuals with HD, then helps reduce the distress associated with discarding items via exposure therapy.

Also known as: CREST
CREST

Eligibility Criteria

Age18 Years+
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersNo
Age GroupsAdult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

  • Veterans age 18 and older
  • voluntary informed consent for participation
  • DSM-5 diagnosis of HD as measured by the Structured Interview for Hoarding Disorder
  • HD as a primary diagnosis, and 5) stable on medications for at least 6 weeks

You may not qualify if:

  • current psychosis or mania as measured by the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview
  • current or history of any neurodegenerative disease
  • concurrent participation in any form of exposure-based psychotherapy
  • suicide ideation will be monitored by the clinicians during sessions and VA standard suicide measure will be completed at all assessment points

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA

San Diego, California, 92161-0002, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Hoarding DisorderHoarding

Interventions

Cognitive TrainingCase Management

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Obsessive-Compulsive DisorderAnxiety DisordersMental DisordersBehavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neurological RehabilitationRehabilitationAftercareContinuity of Patient CarePatient CareTherapeuticsHealth ServicesHealth Care Facilities Workforce and ServicesPatient Care PlanningComprehensive Health CarePatient Care ManagementHealth Services Administration

Study Officials

  • Catherine R Ayers, PhD

    VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
SINGLE
Who Masked
OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
Masking Details
The assessor will be blind to treatment condition. Statistician to create randomization table.
Purpose
TREATMENT
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Model Details: The Cognitive Rehabilitation and Exposure/Sorting Therapy (CREST) intervention provides compensatory cognitive strategies to address the executive dysfunction typical of individuals with HD, and then uses exposure therapy to reduce the distress associated with discarding items. CREST will be compared to case management for hoarding symptoms.
Sponsor Type
FED
Responsible Party
SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

December 28, 2020

First Posted

January 6, 2021

Study Start

June 1, 2022

Primary Completion

August 1, 2025

Study Completion

September 1, 2025

Last Updated

December 10, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-12

Data Sharing

IPD Sharing
Will share

Requests for access to this data must be made in writing signed by a requestor from the United States. The request should reference the publication underlying the request. Requests may be made to the Principal Investigator/lead point-of-contact for the publication. Should the PI leave the VASDHS the requests may be sent to the Associate Chief of Staff for Research. One or more data sets without personal identifiers will be generated during the data analysis phase of the study. The data sets will include all data underlying any publications generated by this study and therefore these will be sufficient to reproduce or verify any published findings. Publications will specify the statistical analytic methods used, thereby enabling recipients to analyze the same data and validate study results.

Shared Documents
STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, CSR, ANALYTIC CODE
Time Frame
The data will be available in 2024 for a minimum of 7 years.
Access Criteria
Requests for access to this data must be made in writing signed by a requestor from the United States. The request should reference the publication underlying the request. Requests may be made to the Principal Investigator/lead point-of-contact for the publication. Should the PI leave the VASDHS the requests may be sent to the Associate Chief of Staff for Research. Any HIPAA identifiers, or combinations of variables that could be used for re-identification, will be redacted from this data. Any proprietary information will also be redacted from this data. This plan does not include any access to individually identifiable data. The request must include an email address for delivery and a written assurance that the recipient will not attempt to identify or re-identify any individual whose data are included in the data set.

Locations