Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42299615›Full record

ArticleDeveloping world bioethics2026

Frontline Healthcare Professionals' Perceptions of the Duty to Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Method Study in Mozambique.

Ângela Alface, Graça Salomé, Khátia Munguambe, Troy D Moon, Esperança Sevene, Elizabeth Heitman

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Developing world bioethics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Ângela AlfaceDepartment of Physiological Science, Faculty of Medicine, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8281-8714
Graça SaloméDepartment of Physiological Science, Faculty of Medicine, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0533-0522
Khátia MunguambeDepartment of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3888-5126
Troy D MoonDepartment of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Tulane University Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Los Angeles, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1637-829X
Esperança SeveneDepartment of Physiological Science, Faculty of Medicine, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9025-4052
Elizabeth HeitmanProgram in Ethics in Science and Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4855-8551

Funding

VU-Mozambique Collaborative Research Ethics Education ProgramR25TW009722 · FIC · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI ELIZABETH HEITMAN, D. Troy Moon · 2014 to 2026
$3.0M
FIC NIH HHS R25 TW009722Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health R25TW009722
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

COVID-19 intensified ethical tensions between clinicians' duty to care and self-protection amid PPE shortages. We explored frontline healthcare professionals' perspectives in Maputo, Mozambique. Semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals at four hospitals (April-June 2022) were recorded in Portuguese, transcribed, and thematically analyzed. Fixed-response items were captured in REDCap and summarized descriptively. Fifty-three respondents described varied perspectives on duty. Nearly half affirmed unconditional obligations grounded in professional ethics. Many framed duty as contingent on available PPE and institutional support; 8% were unsure. Themes included irregular PPE distribution, unequal training, and reliance on informal information, shaping perceived risk, preparedness, and responsibility. Quantitative summaries echoed these patterns: only 58% reported receiving training, and as PPE re-supply declined many felt exposed. Sustaining duty to care in resource-constrained settings during an outbreak requires reliable PPE provision, equitable and timely training, and trustworthy communication systems to protect workers and strengthen health-system resilience. Sustaining duty to care in resource-constrained settings during an outbreak requires reliable PPE provision, equitable and timely training, and trustworthy communication systems to protect workers and strengthen health-system resilience.

Indexed as

clinical ethicsCOVID‐19duty to carefrontline healthcare professionallow resource settingMozambique

Identifiers

PMID42299615
PMCPMC13396983

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.