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The advantage that derives from the
involvement of the "study" population at the beginning and throughout
the study is that results are more relevant for that group and results may be
immediately used for program development by the local population. Many
epidemiologic designs require long periods between data collection, analysis,
dissemination and application of the results to the affected group. The
epidemiologic studies which result in the most rapid application are those
related to outbreak investigations, however as those studies have been applied
to non-infectious diseases (for example, clusters of cancer cases), even they
have not resulted in rapid dissemination of results and application. Further,
the involvement of the participants in the formulation of the study question as
well as the study design ensures that results will be of interest and may result
in wider application of findings to the population.
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