Question Type Reference¶

quickq supports 12 question types covering the full range of health and epidemiology survey instruments. This page describes each type, its YAML authoring syntax, and its current pipeline status.

Pipeline coverage¶

The table below reflects a formal audit of each type across the five pipeline layers.

Type	YAML loader	FHIR export	Seed	OLAP refresh	Report	Status
`single_choice`	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	Full
`multiple_choice`	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	Full
`boolean`	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	Full
`text`	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	Full
`numeric`	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	Full
`date`	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	Full
`slider`	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	Full
`sata_other`	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	Full
`likert`	✅	✅	✅	✅	⚠️	Partial
`grid`	✅	✅	✅	✅	⚠️	Partial
`ranked`	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	Full
`repeating_group`	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	Full

Partial — likert: Collected and exported correctly. The report renders it as a categorical distribution rather than an ordinal scale; agg_numeric_stats excludes it. Scoring and analysis work correctly via fact_response.

Partial — grid: Definition, FHIR export, seed, and OLAP storage all work. The report renders grid cells as a flat list rather than a row × column matrix. The underlying data is correct and queryable.

Full — repeating_group: YAML definition (with optional count_from linkage to a numeric count question), FHIR export (with the count-from and SDC questionnaire-maxOccurs extensions when linked), FHIR import (preserves the linkage on round-trip), OLAP storage (fact_response.repeat_index), Markdown report (nested section with per-respondent instance summary), and quickq seed (honors count_from to drive N from a prior numeric answer, falls back to a small random N for free-add groups). The bundled demo views (v_prenatal_visits, v_prenatal_summary) show example pivots over repeat_index.

Demo instrument¶

examples/health_intake_demo.yaml in the quickq source repo covers all fully supported and partial types in a coherent clinical context. Fetch it and exercise the full pipeline:

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/quickq-io/quickq/main/examples/health_intake_demo.yaml
quickq load health_intake_demo.yaml study.db
quickq seed study.db <questionnaire_id> --n 50
quickq refresh study.db analytics.duckdb
quickq report analytics.duckdb study.db <questionnaire_id>

Type reference¶

`single_choice`¶

One answer from a fixed list. Rendered as radio buttons.

- link_id: q.health
  text: "How would you rate your general health today?"
  type: single_choice
  options:
    - { text: "Excellent", value: "5" }
    - { text: "Good",      value: "3" }
    - { text: "Poor",      value: "1" }

`multiple_choice`¶

One or more answers from a fixed list. Rendered as checkboxes.

- link_id: q.strategies
  text: "Which do you currently use to manage your condition?"
  type: multiple_choice
  options:
    - { text: "Medication",       value: "rx" }
    - { text: "Physical therapy", value: "pt" }
    - { text: "Exercise",         value: "exercise" }

`sata_other`¶

Select-all-that-apply with a free-text "Other" option. Mark the other option with is_other: true.

- link_id: q.symptoms
  text: "Which symptoms are you experiencing? Select all that apply."
  type: sata_other
  options:
    - { text: "Fatigue", value: "fatigue" }
    - { text: "Pain",    value: "pain" }
    - { text: "Other",   value: "other", is_other: true }

`boolean`¶

Yes / No. Stored as "true" or "false" in response_text.

- link_id: q.chronic
  text: "Have you been diagnosed with a chronic condition?"
  type: boolean

`text`¶

Open-ended free text.

- link_id: q.notes
  text: "Any additional notes for your care team?"
  type: text

`numeric`¶

Integer or decimal with an optional range constraint.

- link_id: q.symptom_days
  text: "How many days in the past 30 did symptoms limit your activities?"
  type: numeric
  range: [0, 30]

`date`¶

A calendar date. Stored as ISO 8601.

- link_id: q.diagnosis_date
  text: "When were you first diagnosed?"
  type: date

`slider`¶

A visual analog scale rendered as a draggable slider. Range and endpoint labels are optional.

- link_id: q.pain_vas
  text: "Rate your current pain level."
  type: slider
  range: [0, 100]
  slider_min_label: "No pain"
  slider_max_label: "Worst imaginable"

`likert`¶

An ordered agreement or frequency scale. Functionally identical to single_choice in storage; the likert type signals to delivery tools that ordered rendering is appropriate.

option_sets:
  agreement:
    - { text: "Strongly disagree", value: "1" }
    - { text: "Disagree",          value: "2" }
    - { text: "Neutral",           value: "3" }
    - { text: "Agree",             value: "4" }
    - { text: "Strongly agree",    value: "5" }

questions:
  - link_id: q.confidence
    text: "I feel confident managing my condition day-to-day."
    type: likert
    options: $agreement

`grid`¶

A matrix question. Each row is a domain; each column is a rating or attribute. The column value is stored per cell.

- link_id: q.impact
  text: "How much has your condition affected each area in the past week?"
  type: grid
  rows:
    - { text: "Work or daily activities" }
    - { text: "Sleep quality" }
    - { text: "Physical mobility" }
  columns:
    - { text: "Not at all",  value: "0" }
    - { text: "A little",    value: "1" }
    - { text: "Moderately",  value: "2" }
    - { text: "Quite a bit", value: "3" }

`ranked`¶

Drag-to-rank ordering. Each option is stored as a response row with option_id and response_numeric = rank position (1 = most important).

- link_id: q.priorities
  text: "Rank your health goals from most to least important."
  type: ranked
  options:
    - { text: "Reducing pain",        value: "pain" }
    - { text: "Improving sleep",      value: "sleep" }
    - { text: "Maintaining mobility", value: "mobility" }

`repeating_group` (full)¶

A loop of sub-questions that repeats N times: once per pregnancy, medication, family member, etc. Definition, FHIR export, FHIR import, and OLAP storage all work end-to-end; fact_response.repeat_index is the per-instance counter.

Two repetition patterns are supported:

Count-driven: declare count_from: <link_id> on the group, pointing at a numeric question defined earlier in the questionnaire. The delivery layer reads that question's answer and renders that many instances. Stored as questionnaire_question.count_qq_id.
Free-add: omit count_from. The delivery tool offers an "add another" affordance and the respondent picks N.

Both patterns produce identical storage. See Repeating Groups for the YAML syntax.

All five pipeline layers cover repeating groups end-to-end: YAML defines them, FHIR export emits them as group + repeats:true items (with the count-from extension when linked), FHIR import preserves the linkage, OLAP refresh propagates repeat_index, the Markdown report renders them as a nested section with per-respondent instance summary, and quickq seed honors count_from to drive N from a prior numeric answer (or a small random N for free-add groups). The bundled demo views (v_prenatal_visits, v_prenatal_summary) show example pivots over repeat_index.

Question Type Reference¶

Pipeline coverage¶

Demo instrument¶

Type reference¶

single_choice¶

multiple_choice¶

sata_other¶

boolean¶

text¶

numeric¶

date¶

slider¶

likert¶

grid¶

ranked¶

repeating_group (full)¶