What does a mildly positive rheumatoid factor test indicate if the doctor thinks you don't have arthritis?

Perhaps nothing.: Ask your physician if he has any explanation for your positive test. This can often be found from the use of certain medications. I suspect he/she already has some idea as to the reason, if he/she feels that rheumatoid arthritis is not the diagnosis for you. Otherwise, a rheumatologist could assist you in sorting out the results.

There are nearly 5%: There are nearly 5% of the population with a positive rf, but only 1% has ra. Therefore 80% of rf that are positive are "false positives." most are very low in titer. A higher level of rf positivity is more significant, since level does correlate with higher disease activity in ra. Less common causes for rf positivity include sjogren's syndrome, sarcoid, and others, but these are much less common.