Rheumatoid factors are a heterogeneous group of autoantibodies directed against the antigenic determinants on the Fc‑region of IgG molecules. They are important in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, but can also be found in other inflammatory rheumatic diseases and in various non - rheumatic diseases. They are also found in clinically healthy persons over 60 years of age. Despite these restrictions, the detection of rheumatoid factors is a diagnostic criterion of the American College of Rheumatology for classifying rheumatoid arthritis. The autoantibodies occur in all the immunoglobulin classes, although the usual analytical methods are limited to the detection of rheumatoid factors of the IgM type.