There are established epigenetic and environmental risk factors for RA. Smoking is an established risk factor for RA in Caucasian populations, increasing the risk three times compared to non-smokers, particularly in men, heavy smokers, and those who are rheumatoid factor positive. Modest alcohol consumption may be protective.

Silica exposure has been linked to RA.

RA reduces lifespan on average from three to twelve years. According to the UK's National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, Young age at onset, long disease duration, the concurrent presence of other health problems (called co-morbidity), and characteristics of severe RA—such as poor functional ability or overall health status, a lot of joint damage on x-rays, the need for hospitalisation or involvement of organs other than the joints—have been shown to associate with higher mortality". Positive responses to treatment may indicate a better prognosis. A 2005 study by the Mayo Clinic noted that RA sufferers suffer a doubled risk of heart disease, independent of other risk factors such as diabetes, alcohol abuse, and elevated cholesterol, blood pressure and body mass index. The mechanism by which RA causes this increased risk remains unknown; the presence of chronic inflammation has been proposed as a contributing factor. It is possible that the use of new biologic drug therapies extend the lifespan of people with RA and reduce the risk and progression of atherosclerosis. This is based on cohort and registry studies, and still remains hypothetical. It is still uncertain whether biologics improve vascular function in RA or not. There was an increase in total cholesterol and HDLc levels and no improvement of the atherogenic index.

The cause of JIA remains a mystery. However, the disorder is autoimmune — meaning that the body's own immune system starts to attack and destroy cells and tissues (particularly in the joints) for no apparent reason. The immune system is thought to be provoked by changes in the environment, in combination with mutations in many associated genes and/or other causes of differential expression of genes. Experimental studies have shown that certain mutated viruses may be able to trigger JIA. The disease appears to be more common in girls, and the disease is most common in Caucasians.

Associated factors that may worsen or have been linked to rheumatoid arthritis include:

- Genetic predisposition; When one family member has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis or another autoimmune disorder, the chances are higher that other family members or siblings may also develop arthritis.

- Females are more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than males at all ages.

- A strong belief is held that psychological stress may worsen the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. However, when the emotional stress is under control, the arthritis symptoms do not always disappear, suggesting that the association is not straightforward.

- Though no distinct immune factor has been isolated as a cause of arthritis, some experts believe that the triggering factor may be something like a virus which then disappears from the body after permanent damage is done.

- Because rheumatoid arthritis is more common in women, perhaps sex hormones may play a role in causing or modulating arthritis. Unfortunately, neither sex hormone deficiency nor replacement has been shown to improve or worsen arthritis.

The cause of JIA, as the word "idiopathic" suggests, is unknown and an area of active research. Current understanding of JIA suggests that it arises in a genetically susceptible individual due to environmental factors.

JIA occurs in both sexes, but like other rheumatological diseases, is more common in females. Symptoms onset is frequently dependent on the subtype of JIA and is from the preschool years to the early teenaged years.

Mortality is increased in people with AS and circulatory disease is the most frequent cause of death. AS patients have an increased risk of 60% for cerebrovascular mortality, and an overall increased risk of 50% for vascular mortality. About one third of those with Ankylosing spondylitis have severe disease, which reduces life expectancy.

As increased mortality in ankylosing spondylitis is related to disease severity, factors negatively affecting outcomes include:

- Male sex

- Plus 3 of the following in the first 2 years of disease:

- Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) >30 mm/h

- Unresponsive to NSAIDs

- Limitation of lumbar spine range of motion

- Sausage-like fingers or toes

- Oligoarthritis

- Onset <16 years old

25% of cases progress to severe destructive arthritis. In the United States and Canada, mortality is estimated at about 4% and in Europe, mortality is estimated at 21.7%.

In the US it affects about 250,000-294,000 children and teens making it one of the most common childhood diseases .

Between 0.1% and 1.8% of people are affected. The disease is most common in Northern European countries, and seen least in people of Afro-Caribbean descent. Although the ratio of male to female disease is reportedly 3:1, many rheumatologists believe the number of women with AS is underdiagnosed, as most women tend to experience milder cases of the disease. The majority of people with AS, including 95 percent of people of European descent with the disease, express the HLA-B27 antigen and high levels of immunoglobulin A (IgA) in the blood.

There are several diseases where joint pain is primary, and is considered the main feature. Generally when a person has "arthritis" it means that they have one of these diseases, which include:

- Osteoarthritis

- Rheumatoid arthritis

- Gout and pseudo-gout

- Septic arthritis

- Ankylosing spondylitis

- Juvenile idiopathic arthritis

- Still's disease

Joint pain can also be a symptom of other diseases. In this case, the arthritis is considered to be secondary to the main disease; these include:

- Psoriasis (Psoriatic arthritis)

- Reactive arthritis

- Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

- Haemochromatosis

- Hepatitis

- Lyme disease

- Sjogren's disease

- Hashimoto's thyroiditis

- Celiac disease

- Non-celiac gluten sensitivity

- Inflammatory bowel disease (including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis)

- Henoch–Schönlein purpura

- Hyperimmunoglobulinemia D with recurrent fever

- Sarcoidosis

- Whipple's disease

- TNF receptor associated periodic syndrome

- Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (and many other vasculitis syndromes)

- Familial Mediterranean fever

- Systemic lupus erythematosus

An "undifferentiated arthritis" is an arthritis that does not fit into well-known clinical disease categories, possibly being an early stage of a definite rheumatic disease.

Arthritis mutilans' parent condition psoriatic arthritis leaves people with a mortality risk 60% higher than the general population, with premature death causes mirroring those of the general population, cardiovascular issues being most common. Life expectancy for people with psoriatic arthritis is estimated to be reduced by approximately 3 years.

Arthritis is the most common cause of disability in the USA. More than 20 million individuals with arthritis have severe limitations in function on a daily basis. Absenteeism and frequent visits to the physician are common in individuals who have arthritis. Arthritis can make it very difficult for individuals to be physically active and some become home bound.

It is estimated that the total cost of arthritis cases is close to $100 billion of which almost 50% is from lost earnings. Each year, arthritis results in nearly 1 million hospitalizations and close to 45 million outpatient visits to health care centers.

Decreased mobility, in combination with the above symptoms, can make it difficult for an individual to remain physically active, contributing to an increased risk of obesity, high cholesterol or vulnerability to heart disease. People with arthritis are also at increased risk of depression, which may be a response to numerous factors, including fear of worsening symptoms.

Seventy percent of people who develop psoriatic arthritis first show signs of psoriasis on the skin, 15 percent develop skin psoriasis and arthritis at the same time, and 15 percent develop skin psoriasis following the onset of psoriatic arthritis.

Psoriatic arthritis can develop in people who have any level severity of psoriatic skin disease, ranging from mild to very severe.

Psoriatic arthritis tends to appear about 10 years after the first signs of psoriasis. For the majority of people, this is between the ages of 30 and 55, but the disease can also affect children. The onset of psoriatic arthritis symptoms before symptoms of skin psoriasis is more common in children than adults.

More than 80% of patients with psoriatic arthritis will have psoriatic nail lesions characterized by nail pitting, separation of the nail from the underlying nail bed, ridging and cracking, or more extremely, loss of the nail itself (onycholysis).

Enthesitis is observed in 30 to 50% of patients and most commonly involves the plantar fascia and Achilles’ tendon, but it may cause pain around the patella, iliac crest, epicondyles,

and supraspinatus insertions

Men and women are equally affected by this condition. Like psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis is more common among Caucasians than African or Asian people.

The worldwide prevalence of inflammatory arthritis is approximately 3%. Rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and undifferentiated spondyloarthritis are the most common subtypes of inflammatory arthritis. The diseases occur most commonly in the 30-40 age group.

Inflammatory arthritis can be disabling to the point where people with the diseases can lose their jobs, which can cause psychological distress. Because it is typically progressive, those who lose their jobs are unlikely to re-enter the workforce after leaving due to their diagnosis. Programs now aim to retain those with inflammatory arthritis by preventing work-related injuries and by making necessary accommodations in the workplace. A 2014 Cochrane review found low-quality evidence that work focused interventions, including counseling, education, advocacy, and occupational medicine consultations, were effective in retaining workers with inflammatory arthritis.

Juvenile arthritis, also known as Childhood arthritis (JA) is any form of chronic arthritis or arthritis-related conditions which affects individuals under the age of 16.

Juvenile arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease.

Worldwide prevalence of spondyloarthropathy is approximately 1.9%.

Relapsing polychondritis is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system begins to attack and destroy the cartilage tissues in the body. It has been postulated that both cell-mediated immunity and humoral immunity are responsible.

Reasons for disease onset are not known, but there is no evidence of a genetic predisposition to developing relapsing polychondritis. However, there are cases where multiple members of the same family have been diagnosed with this illness. Studies indicate that some genetic contribution to susceptibility is likely.

Psoriatic arthritis is a long-term inflammatory arthritis that occurs in people affected by the autoimmune disease psoriasis. The classic feature of psoriatic arthritis is swelling of entire fingers and toes with a sausage-like appearance. This often happens in association with changes to the nails such as small depressions in the nail (pitting), thickening of the nails, and detachment of the nail from the nailbed. Skin changes consistent with psoriasis (e.g., red, scaly, and itchy plaques) frequently occur before the onset of psoriatic arthritis but psoriatic arthritis can precede the rash in 15% of affected individuals. It is classified as a type of seronegative spondyloarthropathy.

Genetics are thought to be strongly involved in the development of psoriatic arthritis. Obesity and certain forms of psoriasis are thought to increase the risk.

Psoriatic arthritis affects up to 30% of people with psoriasis and occurs in both children and adults. Approximately 40-50% of individuals with psoriatic arthritis have the HLA-B27 genotype. The condition is less common in people of Asian or African descent and affects men and women equally.

Many individuals have mild symptoms, which recur infrequently, while others may have persistent problems that become debilitating or life-threatening.

It is not always certain why arthritis of the knee develops. Most physicians believe that it is a combination of factors that can include muscle weakness, obesity, heredity, joint injury or stress, constant exposure to the cold, and aging. Cartilage in the knee begins to break down and leaves the bones of the knee rubbing against each other as you walk. Persons who work in a place that applies repetitive stress on the knees are at a high risk of developing this condition. Bone deformities increase the risk for osteoarthritis of the knee since the joints are already malformed and may contain defective cartilage. Having gout, rheumatoid arthritis, Paget's disease of bone or septic arthritis can increase your risk of developing osteoarthritis.

Some physicians and most podiatrist believe that Pes Planus (flat feet) cause increased rates and earlier incidence of knee osteoarthritis. In a study of army recruits with moderate to severe flat feet, the results showed that they had almost double the rate of knee arthritis when compared to recruits with normal arches.

Palindromic rheumatism is a disease of unknown cause. It has been suggested that it is an abortive form of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), since anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP) and antikeratin antibodies (AKA) are present in a high proportion of patients, as is the case in rheumatoid arthritis. Unlike RA and some other forms of arthritis, palindromic rheumatism affects men and women equally. Palindromic rheumatism is frequently the presentation for Whipple disease which is caused by the infectious agent "Tropheryma whipplei" (formerly "T. whippelii").

Anti-citrullinated protein antibody is frequently associated.

Arthritis mutilans occurs mainly in people who have pre-existing psoriatic arthritis, but can occur, if less often, in advanced rheumatoid arthritis; it can also occur independently. Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are interrelated heritable diseases, occurring with greater heritable frequency than rheumatoid arthritis, primary Sjogren's syndrome and thyroid disease. Psoriasis affects 2–3% of the Caucasian population, and psoriatic arthritis affects up to 30% of those. Arthritis mutilans presents in about 5–16% of psoriatic arthritis cases, involves osteolysis of the DIP and PIP joints, and can include bone edema, bone erosions, and new bone growth. Most often psoratic arthitis is seronegative for rheumatoid factor (occurring in only about 13% of cases), and has genetic risk factor overlap with ankylosing spondylitis with HLA-B27, IL-23R77, and IL-1, however, as of 2016, immunopathogenesis is unclear.

Having more than one risk factor greatly increases risk of septic arthritis.

In "gout", the acute inflammatory arthritis is caused by excess uric acid caused by either overproduction or under-excretion. Before the age of menopause, women have a lower incidence than males, but the rates are equal above this age. Gout can cause mono- or polyarthritis, but usually results in monoarthritis first.

Many rheumatic disorders of chronic, intermittent joint pain have historically been caused by infectious diseases. Their etiology was unknown until the 20th century and not treatable, like Lyme disease (in the Northern and Northeastern US), coccidiomycosis or Valley fever (in the Western US), and Chikungunya in India and a myriad of causes for postinfectious arthritis also known as reactive arthritis like, for example, the once very common rheumatic fever after Group A Streptococcus infection up to the rare Whipple's disease.

Major rheumatic disorders currently recognized include

- Back pain

- Bursitis/Tendinitis of the shoulder, wrist, biceps, leg, knee cap (patella), ankle, hip, and Achilles tendon

- Capsulitis

- Neck pain

- Osteoarthritis

- Palindromic rheumatism has been theorized to be a form of rheumatoid arthritis.

Although these disorders probably have little in common in terms of their epidemiology, they do share three characteristics: they cause chronic, often intermittent pain, they are difficult to treat and are collectively very common.

Rheumatic diseases caused by autoimmunity include:

- Ankylosing spondylitis

- relapsing polychondritis

- systemic lupus erythematosus

- rheumatoid arthritis

- gout, inflammatory arthritis, pseudogout

- juvenile arthritis

- Sjögren syndrome

- scleroderma

- Polymyositis

- Dermatomyositis

- Behçet's disease

- Psoriatic arthritis