During the pandemic state, college students are exposed to additional stressful factors, including but not limited to: fear of being infected; fear of infecting a significant person; deal with a new reality of economic uncertainty; challenges of distance education; new rules in face-to-face classes; restrictions on access to internships and higher demanding in internships.

This exploratory study aims to assess levels of anxiety and the perception of the need for support of students of a Portuguese Higher Education Institution (HEI).

An exploratory study was developed, on the return of students to the presential classes after the academic lockdown. It was spread out an email for all students with a link for an online form, which includes sociodemographic questions, a screening question of the anxiety level, and the need for support level (rating scales 0-10).

It was obtained 36 answers from mostly female students (92%) with 17 to 21 years old (67%). Answers present an average anxiety level of 5.4 (Min=1; Max=9; SD=2.23), with 58% of answers with a score of anxiety level of 5 or higher. The need for support average was 3.7 (Min=1; Max=9; SD=2.23), with 33% of answers with a score of 5 or higher.

It is necessary to continuously monitor the anxiety level and the need for support of college students during the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic. It is similarly relevant to have responses of HEI to promote mental health and to answer to the high levels of students’ anxiety and needs for support during the pandemic.

The role of the community is becoming increasingly recognized as a crucial determinant of human health, particularly during a disaster and during disaster recovery. To identify disaster-vulnerable communities, we sought factors related to communities in need of support by using census information from before the Great East Japan Earthquake.

We identified vulnerable communities by using a needs-assessment survey conducted 6 to 12 months after the Great East Japan Earthquake in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, as indicated by higher proportions of households with at least 1 of 3 major support needs (medical, elderly, psychological, and dwelling environment). The associations between the need for support and 9 demographic characteristics of the community from census data prior to the Great East Japan Earthquake were examined for 71 communities by use of logistic regression analysis.

The need for elderly support was positively associated with the proportions of aged people (odds ratio [OR]=1.5; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.2–1.8) and one-person households (OR=1.3; 95% CI: 1.0–1.7), whereas the need for psychological support was associated with the proportion of people engaged in agriculture (OR=4.6; 95% CI: 1.0–20.7). The proportion of fisheries was negatively associated with the need for dwelling environment support (OR=0.5; 95% CI: 0.3–0.9).

The consideration of simple demographic characteristics from the census may be useful for identifying vulnerable communities and preparing for future disasters. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2015;9:19-28)