Development and validation of HPLC method for the determination of pregabalin in capsules.

A simple, precise, specific, and accurate reverse phase HPLC method has been developed for the determination of pregabalin in capsule dosage form. The chromatography was set on Hypersil BDS, C8, 150×4.6 mm, 5 µm column using photodiode array detector. The mobile phase consisting of phosphate buffer pH 6.9 and acetonitrile in the ratio of 95:05 with flow rate of 1 ml/min. The method was validated according to ICH guidelines with respect to specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision and robustness. Lower limit of quantification is 0.6 mg/l. The pregabalin sample solution was found to be stable at room temperature for about 26 h.

Stability Indicating HPLC Method for the Determination of Chiral Purity of R-(-)-5-[2-aminopropyl]-2-methoxybenzene Sulfonamide.

A chiral reverse phase liquid chromatographic method was developed for the enantiomeric resolution of racemic mixture of (-)-5-[2-aminopropyl]-2-methoxybenzene sulfonamide in bulk drug. The enantiomeric separation of sulfonamide was resolved on a Crownpak CR (+) column using perchloric acid buffer of pH 1.0 as mobile phase and with UV detection at 226 nm. The method is validated and proved to be robust. The limit of detection and quantification of S (-)-(5)-[2-aminopropyl]-2-methoxybenzene sulfonamide] was found to be 0.084 and 0.159 mug/ml, respectively for 20 mul injection volume. The percentage recovery of S (-)-(5)-[2-aminopropyl]-2-methoxybenzene sulfonamide] ranged from 99.57 to 101.88 in bulk drug samples of R (-)-(5)-[2- aminopropyl]-2-methoxybenzene sulfonamide].

Interpersonal communication in family planning in Pakistan.

PIP: Husband-wife communication about family planning has been identified as the major source of motivation for contraceptive use in Pakistan. To learn more about the correlates of this form of interpersonal communication, data from the 1990-91 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey were extracted and cross-tabulated. 22% of the 6393 currently married women surveyed had discussed family planning with their spouse (28.5% in urban areas and 15% in rural areas) and 33% had discussed family size decisions. Younger, more educated women with two, three, or four living children were most likely to have such discussions. The discussion rate was higher for women who desired no more children (35.7%) than those desiring additional children (12.7%). Women exposed to family planning messages on radio and television were also significantly more likely to discuss family planning with their spouse, but female employment status had no effect. Finally, husband's approval of family planning was associated with a three times greater likelihood that wives would initiate such dialogue. The Eighth Five-Year Plan of the Pakistan Family Planning Program emphasizes the facilitation of interpersonal communication as a strategy to increase contraceptive usage.^ieng

Demand side of Pakistan's population welfare programme.

PIP: Pakistan's population welfare program was established with the assumption that many people in Pakistan did not use contraception because they had no access to an available supply of contraceptive methods. Were they provided contraceptives, widespread latent demand would translate into effective demand, and the contraceptive supplies would be used. The population welfare program since its inception has therefore been mainly supply oriented. Contraceptive supplies may be available in Pakistan, but demand for them has been extremely weak throughout the program's existence. The opposition of husbands and mothers to contraceptive use, high infant and child mortality inducing couples to desire large families and several sons, and religion are among factors which impede the uptake of contraception in Pakistan. Socioeconomic and demographic factors also indirectly affect demand. Information, education, and communication efforts have failed to generate demand for family planning among eligible couples. Moreover, motivators motivate neither within nor outside of family welfare centers. More concerted and intense efforts are called for to create demand for family planning services in Pakistan.^ieng

Son preference, fertility desire and contraceptive use in two largest cities of Pakistan.

PIP: The preference for sons in deeprooted in Pakistan and the growth rate is 3.1%/year, which has long term implications for the Population Welfare Program. In this study, the relationship between living sons and contraceptive use is examined among 1243 currently married industrial workers and 307 control group workers from 13 sample industries in Karachi and Lahore, Pakistan. The Family Welfare Education for Workers' Project has been operating in these industries. Questions were asked about the number of living children by sex, desired number of children by sex, and ideal family size by sex. The ideal number of children was 4 (3.7) with an average of 2.2 sons and 1.5 daughters, which indicates son preference. Average desired children (living plus additional wanted) is 5.0 (4.7) with an average of 2.6 for sons and 2.1 for daughters. All workers with an ideal of 1 wanted a son. 90% of those wanting an ideal of 2 children desired 1 son and 1 daughter. 95% with an ideal of 3 children wanted 2 sons and 1 daughter. 83% with an ideal of 4 children desired 2 sons and 2 daughters, and 16% wanted 3 sons and 1 daughter. 85% with an ideal of 5 children wanted 3 sons and 2 daughters. Further evidence for son preference occurs with total desired number of children; i.e., 79% of those desiring 2 children preferred 1 of each sex, and 21%, 2 sons. This pattern was repeated for each increase in child desired. The desire for children was also examined in terms of existing children. Workers who have more sons were less likely to desire another child; however, those with 2 living daughters desired 1.63 more children and those with 1 of each desired .85 more children. Those with 2 sons desired .67 more children. The number of additional children desired decreases with the increasing number of living children, and with increasing numbers of living sons. Desiring no more children tends to increase with an increase in number of living children, and with an increase in the number of living sons shows a stronger tendency to desire no more children. Contraception is used for spacing as well as halting childbearing. There is a direct association between the number of living children and the current use of contraception, and contraception use increases with an increase in the number of living children, and in the number of living sons, linearly. The exception is 2 sons and a desire for a daughter. Results are not generalizable to the national population.^ieng

Comments on "Delayed Marriages in Pakistan".

PIP: The authors' analysis of the demographic impact of delayed age at marriage in Pakistan represents a ground breaking effort. However, more discussion should have been included of the limitations of the data set. Most of the study's data were derived from the Population, Labor Force, and Migration Survey of Pakistan. This survey is considered to include both age misstatements and reporting errors that vary widely among the different regions. Given the small number of observations in age groups, especially in the terminal age groups, the levels of singulate mean age at marriage calculated from these survey data do not portray the true picture of nuptiality in Pakistan. The age at marriage in Pakistan is low for females; for males, however, it lies somewhere near the end of the 15-19-year age group. Because of the high proportion of single males in this age group, the singulate mean age at marriage derived from the relevant age structure shows an upward bias. Under such circumstances, the starting age group for males should be the 20-24-year age group as opposed to the 15-19-year age group selected for females.^ieng

Fertility preferences and contraceptive use in Pakistan.

"The objective of this paper is...to analyse the levels and trends of fertility preferences in Pakistan during the 1975-1980 period and to see if any changes in the preferences have occurred over time even in the absence of the information, education and communication (IE&C) component of the family planning programme. Our hypothesis is that there exists a conscious choice of reproductive goals among married couples and there is no likelihood of any significant change in these expressed choices over time for the last twenty years." The data are from the 1979-1980 Population, Labour Force and Migration (PLM) Survey and the 1975 Pakistan Fertility Survey. "The analysis of data obtained for the two national surveys indicates that the surveys in question are highly consistent with regard to fertility preferences. They also indicate that the magnitude of family size preferences did not change appreciably between the two surveys. Moreover, the period and cumulative fertility behaviour in both the surveys did not record any significant variation.... When contraceptive behaviour was analysed with the reported fertility preferences, it appeared that the women were quite consistent in their stated fertility attitudes." Comments by Khalil A. Siddiqui are included (pp. 617-8).

An analysis of fertility change in Pakistan.

PIP: This decomposition analysis of Pakistan's fertility changes between 1963-1965 and 1976-1978 reveals that changes in marital status contributed 47% of the fertility change, whereas marital fertility contributed about 38%. Age structure and the proportion of females accounted for 10% and 18% respectively. Since the decline in marital fertility was due to both program and nonprogram effects, the contribution of the family planning program was estimated as well. The total number of births averted in 1978 was estimated through decomposition analysis, assuming constant fertility throughout the period. The births averted by the program method were arrived at by applying the Lee and Isbister, Mauldin, and Wishik and Chen technics of program statistics. The latter showed a 41% overestimation of the births averted as compared with the observed number of births averted by changes in marital fertility. This overestimation is probably due to measurement problems, e.g. equation distribution of contraceptives with actual use. Also, the information on IUDs is for 1st insertions only, and does not include other factors such as fecundity, mortality, marital dissolution, amenorrhea, and accidental pregnancies. However, the decline in fertility due to changes in marital status and marital fertility was consistent with the demogaphic changes in Pakistan prior to 1978. Unfortunately, the data sets used from the Population Growth Estimation Experiment and Popluation Growth Survey had sampling and nonsampling errors from age misreporting. This study has pointed up the urgent need for consistency in the service statistics of the family planning program, to ensure reasonable accuracy in measuring fertility levels. Contraceptive methods provided directly to acceptors through program personnel or clinics, particularly conventional methods and pills, should be recorded separately from those distributed in the market. The quality of data must be greatly improved before any realistic policy recommendations can be made.^ieng