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IntroductionHoarding disorder can cause problems with work performance, personal hygiene, health and well-being. The disorder is a growing social problem in Japan. Having difficulty discarding rubbish, decluttering and organising can signal a future hoarding disorder, and early intervention is important. We developed an educational workshop on decluttering and organising for teens and adults with difficulty organising. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a workshop for reducing clutter and improving quality of life among younger people with difficulty decluttering and organising.Methods and analysisAn open-label, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial will be conducted among volunteers aged 12–55 years with mild difficulty decluttering and organising. Those in the intervention group will attend the workshop and receive a visit from a professional cleaning company to declutter their living space. The control group will have only the latter. The primary outcome will be the score on the Japanese version of the Saving Inventory-Revised. Secondary outcomes will be scores on the Clutter Image Rating Scale, the Japanese version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Roles of Private Space Scale. The results will be examined for differences between the two groups in changes from baseline to 7 months. We will examine crude effects and adjust for gender and age using a general linear model for continuous variables and a logistic regression model for dichotomous variables. Sample size was calculated assuming a significance level of 5% (two tailed), a power of 80% and an effect size of 0.75. In total, 60 subjects (30 in each group) will be required.Ethics and disseminationThe study protocol has been approved by the Medical Ethical Committee of Teikyo University (No. 15-065). The findings will be disseminated widely through peer-reviewed publication and conference presentations.Trial registration numberUMIN000020568. Issue date: 16 January 2016.

Home clutter can adversely affect work performance, health and well-being. Clinicallevel hoarding disorders usually manifest during early adolescence, so early detection and prevention of subclinical hoarding tendencies are essential. This study aimed to evaluate a community-based programme for individuals with poor organising and decluttering skills who volunteered to receive education on how to organise their homes.We conducted an open-label randomised controlled trial beginning in January 2016 in Tokyo. We enrolled 61 volunteers aged 12-55 years with problems with organising and decluttering. A workshop and home visit group (n = 30) attended four workshop sessions on organising skills and received a visit from a home organiser. The home visit only group (n = 31) only received the home organiser visit. The primary outcome was Saving Inventory-Revised (SI-R; Japanese version) scores. The secondary outcomes were Clutter Image Rating Scale and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Japanese version) scores. Between-group changes from baseline to 7 months were analysed using a general linear model. At follow-up, the SI-R scores of both groups had improved. The mean change from baseline in SI-R scores was −20.8 (standard deviation = 9.8) and −13.1 (standard deviation = 14.3) in the workshop and home visit and home visit only