Arthritis and other rheumatic conditions are the leading cause of disability in the United States, affecting 43 million persons in 1998 and-with the aging of the "baby boom" generation-are projected to affect an estimated 60 million by 2020. In 1992, these conditions cost $65 billion in medical care and lost productivity and were associated with 744,000 hospitalizations and 44 million ambulatory-care visits in 1997. Because arthritis and other rheumatic conditions seldom cause death but have a substantial impact on health, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures are better indicators of their impact than related mortality rates. This report examines data from 11 states that included an arthritis module in the 1996-1998 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS); findings indicate that persons with arthritis have worse HRQOL than persons without arthritis, regardless of sex, age, or education level.