Comparison of risk-taking behaviour and frequency of piercing and tattooing among university students.

Objective: To assess the frequency of piercing and tattooing among university students and to determine the extent of risk-taking behaviour in this age group.

Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at a university in Istanbul, Turkey, from December 2009 to February 2010. Data was obtained from students through a questionnaire. SPSS 20 was used for statistical analysis.

Results: Of the 1303 subjects, 838(64.3%) were girls. The overall mean age of the sample was 21.7±1.9 years. A total of 107 (8.2%) had piercings and 56(4.3%) had tattoos. It was seen that young people who had piercings and tattoos were significantly more likely (p<0.05) to exhibit certain types of risk behaviour including smoking, alcohol, substance abuse, extreme sports, carrying switchblades/knives, unprotected sexuality and having multiple sex partners.

Conclusions: In the face of the steadily increasing fads of piercing and tattooing among the youth, families, teachers and health professionals need to be constantly on the alert.