journal articles
DIOGENES SYNDROME: A PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY
J.-C. Monfort, E. Devouche, C. Wong, I. Pean, L. Hugonot-Diener
J Aging Res Clin Practice 2017;6:153-157
Objectives: This prospective study was designed to look for the most appropriate appellation, clinical symptoms, and underlying associated diseases, and to investigate a possible central etiology. Design and Participants: This prospective observational study involved 50 subjects aged 50-93 years, living in their home in Paris, and consecutively notified to the community authorities due to risks (fire) or nuisances (stench, parasites, hoarding). Clinical symptoms, associated diagnoses, cognitive capacity and life events during childhood were assessed. Results: Hoarding is both the most frequent and the least alerting symptom. Six clinical types cover both medical and social situations that lead to notifications of risk and nuisances to the authorities. Almost half of the situations remained social as no diseases were found to be associated with the Diogenes syndrome. A traumatic life event during childhood could be a risk factor for all Diogenes syndromes although it is most often present among subjects without an associated disease. Conclusions: Our results are in favor of maintaining the appellation “Diogenes syndrome”, which embraces the entirety of the diverse situations reported to the authorities, social services and medical networks. These situations require time and a coordinated investigation by a medico-social team, as subjects with Diogenes syndrome do not always have an associated disease.
CITATION:
J.-C. Monfort ; E. Devouche ; C. Wong ; I. Pean ; L. Hugonot-Diener (2017): DIOGENES SYNDROME: A PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY. The Journal of Aging Research and Clinical Practice (JARCP). http://dx.doi.org/10.14283/jarcp.2017.19