thank you Mile-O-Phile for your reply. let me get this straight please, shall i use "QuestionID" field as a primary Key in all the invidiual symptom tables [tbl_Orthopnea, tbl_Stridor, tbl_Cough, tbl_Hemoptysis, tbl_AbnormalSputum, tbl_ChestPain, ...etc] and this "QuestionID" will be foreign key...