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.