Questions are the building blocks of every form: eCRF, ePRO, eConsent, Recruitment and the Subject database. This page lists each block of the Add question menu and every option it offers.
🔑 Prerequisite: the Builder (Edit) permission of the module you work in. For an eCRF, a study in Draft or Suspended status.
Add a question
🛠️ Step by step guide
Open the Builder and open a sub-section
Select Add question at the bottom of the sub-section
Choose a block in one of the three groups: Question, Static content or Other
Complete the Edit tab
Select Save
Drag the handle on the left of a row to move a block. The icons on the right of a row delete it, duplicate it, save it as a template or open it with Edit.
Group | Blocks |
Question | Text input, Checkbox, Radio buttons, Date/time, Number value, Rating, File upload, Slider, Calcul, Dropdown |
Static content | Instruction, Header, Image |
Other | Repeated measures, Table/Matrix, Add from template, ePRO invitation, Randomization, Allocation |
Options shared by every question
Option | What it does |
Question title | The text the site or the participant reads. Required |
Add description | A second line under the title, for a unit, a definition or a reminder of the protocol |
Show an image while asking the question | Displays a picture with the question: a body map, a pain scale, a device photo |
Variable name | The column header of your export. Letters, digits, hyphen and underscore, 100 characters, unique in the study. Left empty, Datacapt generates one such as |
Selection type | The question type. You can change it until the question holds data or another question refers to it |
Question required | The form stays incomplete until the question has an answer or a declared missing data |
The editor has four more tabs, the same for every type.
Tab | Holds |
Conditions | Show this question, or prefill it, depending on another answer. 20 conditions per question. See Use conditional logic to show/hide content automatically |
Data validation | Rules that display a message or raise an automatic query. 25 rules per question. Available on Number value, Radio buttons, Dropdown, Date/time, Rating, Slider and Calcul. See Build automated queries with data validation |
Display data | Remind question answer: shows the answer of an earlier question next to this one |
Advanced | Exclude from data exports, Hide in eCRF, Role-Based Edit, Role-Based Visibility |
⚠️ Warning: switching on Hide in eCRF deletes the data validations of the question when you save.
Question types
Text input
Free text.
Option | Detail |
Input placeholder text | Grey text shown in the empty field. 50 characters |
Max characters | The longest answer you accept |
Use it for verbatims you plan to code (adverse event term, medication name) and for comments. For anything you will count or filter, prefer a choice question.
Radio buttons
One answer among several, all visible on screen.
Option | Detail |
Options | A Label and a Value per option. The label shows on screen, the value goes to the export and into calculations. 2 to 50 options |
Add new option | Adds a line |
Add an "Other" option as a comment field | Adds a last option with a free-text field, under the Label you choose |
Place options | Vertically or Horizontally |
💡 Tip: give numeric values in a fixed order across the whole study (0 = No, 1 = Yes). A Calcul can then add them up, and your statistician reads one convention.
Checkbox
Several answers among several. Same options as Radio buttons: Options with label and value, Add an "Other" option as a comment field, Place options. 1 to 50 options.
An export by Values gives one column per option. An export by Labels gives one column with the selected labels separated by a vertical bar.
Dropdown
One answer in a list that opens on click. Same Options with label and value. 2 to 500 options, which makes it the type for long lists: countries, centers, units.
Date/time
Six formats, chosen with one selector.
Format | Collects |
Date | Day, month, year |
Time | Hours and minutes |
Date and time | Both |
Year | The year alone |
Year and month | No day |
Switchable date | The site chooses between a full date, year and month, or year, answer by answer |
Disable future dates refuses any date after today.
💡 Tip: use Switchable date for history questions. A participant asked when a treatment began remembers the exact day or the year, and this format accepts both.
Number value
Option | Detail |
Measurement unit | Text shown next to the field: kg, mmHg, mg/dL |
Input placeholder text | Grey text in the empty field |
Min number and Max number | Values outside this range cannot be saved |
Max decimal | 0 for an integer, up to 40 |
Keep Min number and Max number for values that cannot exist. For values that can exist and deserve a second look, write a data validation: it opens a query and lets the site confirm.
Rating
A row of numbered buttons.
Option | Detail |
1st number | 0 to 9 |
1st number's label | Text under the first button, for example "No pain" |
Last number | 1 to 10 |
Last number's label | Text under the last button |
Slider
A cursor on a line, for visual analogue scales.
Option | Detail |
The lowest value and The highest value | 0 to 1,000 |
The lowest value label and The highest value label | Text at each end |
Increment | The step of the cursor, from 0.01 |
Slider type | Horizontal or Vertical |
Show labels, Show ticks, Show tick value | What appears along the line |
Show value | Displays the selected number |
Enable Colors | Colors the line from green to red |
File upload
The site or the participant attaches files: a lab report, an ECG, a photo, a video.
eCRF: 5 files per answer. ePRO: 1 file per answer.
10 MB per file by default.
Images, video, audio, PDF, Word, Excel, CSV, text, ZIP and DICOM.
The question has no option of its own. You cannot limit the file type per question.
Calcul
Computes its value from other answers. Choose the type under Select type of calcul: Custom function, Calculate age, Calculate Date / Time, Data display or System variable. A custom function accepts variables in braces, numbers and + - * / ^ ( ), with Max decimal for rounding.
In an ePRO, a Calcul is not displayed to the participant.
The full guide, with formulas and error messages: Calculation recipes.
Static content
Blocks that display and collect nothing. Each has an Edit tab and a Conditions tab, so you can show an instruction when an answer calls for it.
Block | Options |
Instruction | Formatted text, 20,000 characters. Toolbar: bold, lists, Link (paste the address under Enter URL), Insert variable (writes the answer of another question into the text), Undo and Redo |
Header | A title inside the form, 200 characters |
Image | Upload image, in .jpeg, .jpg or .png. The reader can zoom into it |
Other blocks
Repeated measures
A set of questions the site fills as many times as needed: adverse events, concomitant treatments, medical history.
Option | Detail |
Title | Required |
Description | Guidance for the site |
Maximum number of single measures | 20 by default, 50 at most |
Inside, add up to 40 blocks of these types: Text input, Number value, Radio buttons, Checkbox, Dropdown, Date/time and Rating.
Table/Matrix
A grid with fixed rows and columns, filled on one screen.
Option | Detail |
Title and Description | As above |
Columns labels | Add column, then pick its question type: Text input, Number value, Date/time or Dropdown. A Dropdown column opens Create code list for its options. 20 columns |
Rows labels | Add row. 20 rows |
The choice between the two, with a worked adverse event log: Collect repeating data: adverse events, treatments and tables.
Add from template
Inserts questions saved in your template library. You can select several at once. See Save and reuse eCRF templates.
Action buttons
Three blocks place a button inside the form, so the site acts without leaving the visit.
Block | Button | Options |
ePRO invitation | Send ePRO invitation | Name of the button |
Randomization | Randomize | Name, and the Randomization configuration to run |
Allocation | Allocate | Name, and the Allocation period |
Limits per sub-section
150 questions and 40 static content blocks. The full list of ceilings is in Builder limits and what Datacapt does not do.