ABSTRACT
Background Palliative care is an essential part of medical practice but it remains limited, inaccessible, or even absent in low andmiddle income countries. Objectives Toevaluate the general knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Mozambican physicians on palliative care. Methods Acrosssectional observational study was conducted between August 2018 and January 2019 in the 3mainhospitals of Mozambique, in addition to the only hospital with a standalone palliative care service. Data was collected from a self-administered survey directed to physicians in services with oncology patients. Results Twohundredandsevenoutof306physicians surveyed answered the questionnaire. The median physician age was 38years. Fifty-five percent were males, and 49.8% residents. Themostcommonmedicalspecialty was surgery with 26.1%. Eighty percent of physicians answered that palliative care should be provided to patients when no curative treatments are available; 87% believed that early integration of palliative care can improve patients' quality of life; 73% regularly inform patients of a cancer diagnosis; 60% prefer to inform the diagnosis and prognosis to the family/caregivers. Fifty percent knew what a "do-not-resuscitate" order is, and 51% knew what palliative sedation is. Only 25% of the participants answered correctly all questions on palliative care general knowledge, and only 24% of the participants knew all answers about euthanasia. Conclusions Mozambican physicians in the main hospitals of Mozambique have cursory knowledge about palliative care. Paternalism and the family-centered model are the most prevalent. Moreinterventions and training of professionals are needed to improve palliative care knowledge andpractice in the country.
