 [ Symptoms ] what is 0 negative arthritis [ Disease ] this is probably what is referred to as sero negative arthritis  this is a form of arthritis that is characterized by inflammation hot swollen tender painful stiff of joints but is not associated with the classic blood serum test for rheumatoid arthritis called rheumatoid factor we refer to these patients as being rheumatoid factor negative in their serum or seronegative the term is nonspecific and it is possible for a patient is condition to evolve at a later time into a more classical identifiable disease