I agree with the need for proxies, but if they are used then there needs to be strong evidence that they are valid and studies should report both the proxy results and the implied quality/quantity of life results based on the proxy results. This would help to put the true potential impact into perspective AND help with followup studies that can more easily check the actual impacts observed verses the predicted impact based on the proxy values. Keeping the focus on quality/quantity at every stage, especially if it is just mentioning that there isn't a strong connection between the study objective and real utility, is deeply important.