DESABEN-MTN: Dataset on the socioeconomic determinants of skin neglected tropical diseases in the communes of Zagnanado and Allada, Benin

This dataset was produced as part of the DESABEN-MTN project (Social Determinants of Healthand Neglected Tropical Diseases in Benin), implemented by the Fondation Anesvad, theFondation Raoul Follereau, and the Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Médicale Appliquée (LAMA)of the University of Abomey-Calavi. The dataset contains anonymized responses from 403 community participants recruited betweenNovember 2024 and May 2025 in the catchment areas of the Buruli Ulcer Screening andTreatment Centres (CDTUB) of Zagnanado (Zou department) and Allada (Atlantique department),two endemic communes of southern and central Benin. Participants were recruited throughweighted simple random sampling and enrolled after written informed consent. The structured questionnaire covers 131 variables across ten thematic domains:(A) sociodemographic characteristics, (B) awareness of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs),(C) prevalent skin conditions in the community, (D) perceived causes of skin diseases,(E) perceived transmission routes, (F) prevention measures, (G) diagnostic practices andhealthcare access, (H) influence of social norms, gender-based beliefs and traditionalpractices on NTD prevalence, (I) economic, living condition, and environmental factors,and (J) perceived best control strategies across eight public health domains. Multi-select questions are provided both as concatenated text strings and as binarydummy-coded sub-variables (1 = selected, 0 = not selected), ready for statistical analysis. The dataset is provided in English (translated from French) alongside a full codebook(variable dictionary) and a README file. Ethics approval was granted by the Comité Nationald'Éthique pour la Recherche en Santé du Bénin (CNERS; reference CNERS 002/2025). Files included:- DESABEN_dataset_EN.xlsx : Main anonymized dataset (403 rows × 131 variables)- DESABEN_Codebook.xlsx : Variable dictionary (variable names, labels, types, response options)- DESABEN_README.md : Dataset documentation (study overview, structure, usage notes)