Hopelessness at the end of Life: the Utility of the Hopelessness Scale With Terminally ill Cancer Patients

The authors investigated the utility of the Beck Hopelessness Scale in a sample of terminally ill cancer patients by examining the scale’s properties. A cross-sectional study of 200 hospice inpatients with a life expectancy of less than 6 months was conducted. All scales were found to be reliable & valid measures of hopelessness. 3 abbreviated versions were more highly correlated with the distress measures than the original version, & the 7-item & 13-item subscales outperformed the original scale in the prediction of suicide ideation & desire for hastened death. (23 refs.)