The Impact of Social Media and Artificial Intelligence on Illness Perception and Treatment Adherence in Patients With Rheumatic Diseases.

Patients aged 45 or younger showed significantly higher electronic health literacy (p = 0.010) and engagement with social media (p < 0.001).

Importantly, younger patients were less likely to change their treatment based on social media content compared with older patients (p = 0.043).

Although attitudes toward artificial intelligence did not vary by age, 84.2% of patients believed their doctors were open to discussing digital information, and 91.6% would use social media if recommended by their physicians.