Psychiatric inferences from data on psychologic/psychiatric symptoms in multiple chemical sensitivities syndrome

When abnormal psychologic/psychiatric symptom data are obtained on personal ity tests or psychiatric interviews administered to patients who report sym ptoms of Multiple Chemical Sensitivities Syndrome, investigators typically attribute these to either psychiatric traits or to psychogenic origins of i llness. The primary purpose of these studies was the evaluation of the plau sibility of nonpsychiatric explanations of psychologic/psychiatric symptom data. In Study 1, patients with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities Syndrome us ed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2 (MMPI-2) to describe w hich items had changed after they developed the condition. In Study 2, thre e diverse groups of professionals predicted which items on the MMPI-2 might change after a mentally healthy person developed the Syndrome or a conditi on resembling it. In Study 3, a second sample of Multiple Chemical Sensitiv ities Syndrome patients completed the MMPI-2 and other questionnaires by ma il, which allowed the authors to ascertain whether these patients showed mo re or different psychopathology than was described by patients and hypothes ized by professionals. Data from Study 1 patient informants indicated that developing the syndrome might result in a psychopathological MMPI-2 profile , characterized by abnormal Hypochondriasis and Hysteria scale scores. Prof essionals in Study 2 showed a consensus about hypothesized MMPI-2 changes f ollowing the development of the syndrome. These changes likely elevated the Hypochondriasis, Hysteria, Psychasthenia, Depression, and Schizophrenia sc ale scores. In Study 3, the patients taking the MMPI-2 showed elevations on the Hypochondriasis, Hysteria, Depression (women only), and Schizophrenia scales. Abnormal scores were associated closely with greater severity of il lness and greater adjustment to illness. The strategy of administering psyc hometric tests to ill populations for the purposes of evaluating psychiatri c illness or traits, and/or psychogenic origins of illness was shown to be potentially misleading.