Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) findings among breast clinic patients after initial evaluation and AT 4- OR 8-month follow-up

Twenty‐seven patients who subsequently underwent benign biopsy and 41 patients diagnosed to have breast cancer completed the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) after initial examination in a breast problem clinic and again after 4 months or, for CA patients who were completing a course of chemo/radio‐therapy, after 8 months. At initial testing, the trend toward fewer moderate‐severe disorders among the benign biopsy (BB) group did not reach statistical significance. However, at follow‐up, the difference was significant; the BB group showed fewer moderate‐severe disorders (7.5%) than the cancer (CA) group (29%). Concordance of two‐point peak elevations on scales 1‐8, S, C, and P was examined. For the BB group, 56% had the same two high points on both testings, compared to only 27% of the CA group. Test‐retest correlations on personality scales were generally lower for the CA group than for the BB group. We concluded that (1) approximately 30% of breast CA patients showed a disruption of psychological adjustment clearly severe enough to merit consideration of a mental health referral; (2) despite the frequency of significant distress, major affective and thought disorders were infrequent among this group; (3) distress associated with breast CA may interfere with the reliable assessment of long‐standing personality traits.