The aim of this study was to construct a pressure ulcer risk assessment scale appropriate for palliative care patients. Risk assessments were performed using the modified Norton scale and nine newly constructed scales, consisting of the modified Norton scale with various changes. Data were collected from 98 patients in a Swedish hospice between April 1999 and September 2000. Pressure ulcer occurrence was registered weekly in the patient record. Increasing age, male gender, physical inactivity, immobility, decreasing food and fluid intake, incontinence, poor general physical condition and lean body constitution were shown to be significant risk factors for development of pressure ulcers in terminally ill cancer patients. After further testing of the data, one scale was found to be superior in identifying patients at risk, with higher validity than the modified Norton scale. The assessment items in this new scale, The Hospice Pressure Ulcer Risk Assessment Scale (in Swedish: Hospice Riskbedöming Trycksår, (HoRT)), are physical activity, mobility and age.