Why perform a quality or quality-of-life assessment?

The purpose of this article is to prompt quality-of-life researchers to periodically ask themselves why they are doing what
they are doing. I will give you my answer to this question, but also briefly review the historic events that lead to the development
of the field. Examining this history should teach each of us that the field evolved from the application of a operations research
perspective to the medical care system. As such, more attention should be given to the quality control potential of quality-of-life
assessments. I suggest two approaches to this quality control task; the prevention of adverse events and the enhancement of
the qualitative status of ill persons.