OBJECTIVES: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an incapacitating disease with prevalence estimates ranging from 0.5% to 1% in Brazil, which demands early diagnose and adequate treatment to slow down it’s progression. This study is aimed to assess co-morbidity, quality of life (QoL), work/productivity loss, and medical resource utilization in patients diagnosed with RA in Brazil. METHODS: A total of 12,000 individuals’ (age 18+) self-reported data were collected from 2011 National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS) in Brazil, a cross-sectional representative sample of the adult population. QOL was measured by the physical component score (PCS) and mental component score (MCS) of the Short Form-12 (SF-12). Loss of work/productivity was measured by the validated Work Productivity and Activity Impairment instrument. Medical resource utilization was measured by health care provider utilization, emergency room visits and hospitalization in the past 6 months. RESULTS: Of the 12,000 respondents, 65 (0.5%) had been diagnosed with RA, from which 58.0% were female. 45% of RA diagnosed group reported RA related problems once a month or less, 27% say their problems occur daily, and 28% experience problems more often than once per month, but not daily. On average, RA patients have been diagnosed for 14 years. RA diagnosed group was more likely to suffer from the co-morbidities of pain (59% vs.23%) and fibromyalgia (11%v s.1%), was more likely to visit an emergency room in the past 6 months (41% vs.21%), presented lower mean PCS scores (40% vs. 50%) and had higher percentages of absenteeism (9.2% vs.6.5%), presenteeism (43.3% vs 14.5%)., work productivity loss (47%vs.18.5%) and activity impairment (46.9% vs.20.3%)  when compared to the group not diagnosed with RA. All mentioned differences were statistically significant (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Based on results from the Brazil NHWS, patients diagnosed with RA suffer from impairment in QOL, work/productivity loss and more co-morbidities. Findings indicate there is still an unmet medical need in RA patients in Brazil.