Exploring adolescents' knowledge, behavior and understanding of the risks of tattooing

Background:  Tattoos and body piercings from unlicensed facilities (such as tattoo parties) are growing, especially among school-aged youth, increasing the risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and other blood-borne diseases.  Little is known about adolescents’ knowledge, risk perceptions and behavior around HCV and unlicensed tattooing.

Methods: A 16-item survey exploring knowledge, awareness, risk perceptions and behaviors about tattooing was distributed to urban adolescents ages 13-26 prior to an interactive public health education session.   Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used to analyze the survey data.

Results:  Of the 111 adolescents, 69% were male and 78% were African American.  The majority (76%) had heard about HCV infection, although knowledge was low: 5% of adolescents answered all 3 knowledge-based items correctly.  Seventy-three (66%) of those surveyed had a tattoo.  Of those with a tattoo, 47 (64%) had > 3 tattoos and 49 (67%) reported getting at least one of their tattoos in an unlicensed setting. When asked how difficult it would be to attend a tattoo party the future, 77 (69%) said it would be easy or very easy.  Multivariable analyses revealed that older adolescents and females were significantly more likely to have a tattoo (p<.05), yet all youth were equally likely to have gotten a tattoo in an unlicensed setting.

 

Conclusion: There is a high rate of tattooing in unlicensed facilities among adolescents, yet their knowledge about HCV transmission and infection is low, leading to heightened risk in this population.  Efforts to provide school-based education about HCV and tattooing are warranted.