Network Analysis of Health Information Diffusion Patterns and Their Implications for Health Education Programme Targeting in Urban Nigeria

Understanding how health information diffuses through social networks is critical for designing efficient and targeted health education programmes in densely populated urban environments. This study applied social network analysis to examine health information diffusion patterns and their implications for health education programme targeting in three Nigerian cities: Lagos, Kano, and Enugu. A sequential design was used, beginning with ego-network surveys administered to 460 adults embedded in pre-identified community information networks. Sociometric data on health information sharing relationships were supplemented by 36 in-depth interviews with health information opinion leaders, community health educators, and network hubs. Social network analysis metrics including betweenness centrality, degree centrality, network density, and information bridge analysis were applied using UCINET and Gephi. Results revealed distinct information diffusion architectures across the three cities, with health information in Lagos spreading primarily through WhatsApp community groups and opinion leader networks, while Kano networks were more hierarchically organised around religious institution channels and Enugu networks exhibited high peer-to-peer density. Central network actors demonstrated disproportionate influence on community health knowledge levels. The study provides an original network science contribution to health education programme targeting methodology and recommends network-informed health education design in Nigerian urban contexts. Keywords: social network analysis, health information diffusion, health education targeting, urban Nigeria, opinion leaders