title: [Association between tattoos, piercings and risk behaviors in adolescents].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The use of tattoos and piercings has increased, especially among adolescents in the last decades.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the prevalence of these behaviors in adolescents and their association with risk behaviors such as alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use and sexual promiscuity.
  
  
  METHODS
  An anonymous and confidential survey about tattooing and piercings was applied to randomly selected high school teenagers, attending municipal, private-subsidized and private schools, in four sectors of Santiago (north-east, south-east, north-west, south-west).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The surveys were answered by 1329 participants with a mean age of 15 years (62% women) from 9 schools in Santiago. The prevalence of tattoos was 1.7% (confidence intervals (CI) 1.1% to 2.5%). The figure for piercings was 30.6% (CI 28.2 to 33.1%). A higher prevalence of tattooing and piercings was observed in groups with a history of psychiatric disorders, criminal records, alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug consumption and initiation of sexual activity (p < 0,001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study confirms that tattoos and piercings are indicators of adolescent risk behaviors.
authors: Departamento de Dermatología, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. mlauracossio@gmail.com
authors: María Laura T
authors: ML
authors: Cossio
authors: Laura F
authors: LF
authors: Giesen
authors: Gabriela
authors: G
authors: Araya
authors: María Luisa S
authors: ML
authors: Pérez-Cotapos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D046288:Body Piercing / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002677:Chile / Q000453:epidemiology; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D012309:Risk-Taking; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013653:Tattooing / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data