Background: Inspired by the “Informed Choices, Better Outcomes” campaign, an online Survey about Health literacy (Survey), designed and implemented by Serbian association of patients with rheumatic diseases - ORS, was developed to assess the level of health literacy among individuals diagnosed with musculoskeletal and rheumatic diseases - RMD in Serbia. Health literacy is crucial for understanding health information, managing medical conditions and making informed decisions regarding treatment options.

Objectives: The main objective of this Survey was to evaluate the health literacy of individuals with RMD, focusing on understanding of their diagnosis, medications they are taking and the credibility of health information they come into contact with. Specifically, it aimed to assess participants’ familiarity with their medications, knowledge of generic drug names, the sources they rely on for health-related information and their ability to distinguish reliable from unreliable data, as well as to gain insight into the awareness of patients about the importance of healthy lifestyle habits.

Methods: More than 50 questions Survey consisted of both, multiple-choice and open-ended questions, addressing various aspects of health literacy, personal habits and engagement with trustful health-related information. The questions explored topics such as medication awareness, health behavior (e.g. smoking, alcohol consumption, regular exercices, healthy and balanced diet), interaction between different drugs, interaction with other diseases and conditions and very important, use of health information obtained on internet and digital platforms. Anonymity was emphasized to ensure honest and unbiased responses. The research was conducted online over a two-week period in the last quarter of 2024, with participants from across Serbia with different diagnosis of RMD (43% with RA, 20% AS, 13% PsA, 7% SLE, 3% percent each with SSc, JIA, OP…) and different ages (3% under 30 years, 27% each between 30 and 40 years and 40 and 50 years, 23% between 50 and 60 years, 17% between 60 and 70 years and 3% over 70 years).

Results: Results from the Survey provided insights into the participant’s level of health literacy including their ability to understand medical terminology, evaluate health information sources (more than 90% percent cited their doctor and ORS as their main source of information) and apply this knowledge in managing their health (½ of those surveyed are smokers, ½ are regularly physically active, ½ have normal weight according BMI index, 5/6 eat healthy, 3/4 use mental health tools …). The survey also examined the frequency and nature of digital health information searches, the ability to verify information credibility and attitudes toward telemedicine (63% would use telemedicine, 8% would use after some training). A critical aspect of the results was the identification of gaps in health literacy, particularly regarding medications, health data privacy and the use of trustfull information and digital tools.

Conclusion: Data of lifestyles such as that half of the respondents smoke, only half are physically active and only half have normal weight measured by BMI Index, leave room for action, while on the other hand, the data that over 90% have doctors, ORS and official medical websites as the main choice of information or 93% are familiar with concept of health literacy are encouraging. At the same time it must be noted that the Survey was conducted online and that this method did not include groups of patients who do not use modern technologies in everyday life. The survey’s findings will help inform ORS for future strategies and initiatives to enhance health literacy and improve health outcomes for individuals with RMD. By understanding the challenges in health information comprehension and decision-making, targeted interventions can be developed to empower individuals to make more informed choices regarding their health. Additionally, the survey will guide our efforts to educate the public on digital health literacy and the importance of verifying health information, contributing to more informed and engaged healthcare decision-making. The results indicated that the survey should be repeated in paper format to reach a larger and more diverse group of participants, including those not represented online. Subsequently, a comparison of the results obtained from both formats should be conducted.

REFERENCES: [1] https ://www.eular.org/the-eular-campaigns .

[2] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/health-literacy .

[3] https://www.ors.rs/vesti/753/12-oktobar-svetski-dan-borbe-protiv-artritisa .

Acknowledgements: NIL.

Disclosure of Interests: None declared.

© The Authors 2025. This abstract is an open access article published in Annals of Rheumatic Diseases under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ). Neither EULAR nor the publisher make any representation as to the accuracy of the content. The authors are solely responsible for the content in their abstract including accuracy of the facts, statements, results, conclusion, citing resources etc.