The uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have stimulated biomedical research worldwide to support evidence-based public health policies aimed at reducing the impact of COVID-19 on populations. the resulting urgency of decision-making in a pandemic context faced by Research Ethics Committees created new challenges leading to new reflections on the basic principles of ethics. Starting from a specific case of the implementation of a clinical trial in a pandemic context, this article analyses the emerging ethical and regulatory challenges for the development of clinical trials in Cabo Verde and the path towards strengthening clinical research and biomedical research ethical decision-making in the country. Research in health is important for the social development of a country. Legal and ethical gaps related to biomedical research can be overcome to make clinical research possible, as was the case in Cabo Verde and, thus, contribute to the overall development of well-regulated science.

Is workplace violence against health care workers in Mozambique gender related?

Measurement is an essential activity in medical science and due to the subjective nature of the results that are being measured, it is increasingly necessary to have valid, reproducible and reliable methods. There is no guidelines simply focus on the validation of questionnaires. There are some reviews or task forces. Nevertheless, looking at some validation studies, there are different methods or techniques to develop it, which may cause some confusion. The aim of this review is to synthetize some of these information, to be used as a simple guide. Before any data collection, a translation of the questionnaire is needed. Psychometry involves the application of statistical techniques to test the measurement properties of an instrument. There are several measures to evaluate an instrument, the main ones being: classical test theory and modern test theory. Regarding the classical test theory, the key psychometric characteristics are: scale structure, accuracy (validity), precision (reliability) and responsiveness. Modern test theory models are techniques to assess the psychometric characteristics of an instrument, focused on the dimensionality of the questionnaire. Responsiveness, validity and precision are interlinked. However, each one is important, acting independently in the assessment of the psychometric characteristics of the instruments.