A Retrospective Analysis of Structures Infested by Subterranean Termites in Philippines

Abstract:
This is a retrospective analysis on 502 individual structures to determine if there exists any specific reason for a structure to become susceptible to termite attack. Individual parameters were collected from each of the structures for performing the analysis. The parameters selected were location of the structure (urban, or suburban); construction method (constructed by a developer or individually constructed); age (over or below 5 years), landscape (presence or absence); area (with or without surrounding unused land); economic level of the owner (upper or middle class). The parameters were subjected to a chi square test to provide possible conclusion. The results show that termite infestation is significantly associated with structures with landscape, constructed by a developer and owned by middle class. Further, in structures owned by middle class, construction method is a dominant determinant to infestation than presence of landscape. In contrast, among the upper class owned structures, landscape is a dominant risk factor than construction method. The results are further discussed in this article.