title: Comparison of risk-taking behaviour and frequency of piercing and tattooing among university students.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Nursing, Istanbul University, Florence Nightingale Nursing Faculty, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Serap
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Balci
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Nursing, Selcuk University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Alaeddin Keykubat Campus, Konya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Emine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sari
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Nursing, Istanbul University, Florence Nightingale Nursing Faculty, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Birsen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mutlu
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D046288:Body Piercing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013177:Sports / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013653:Tattooing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D014495:Universities; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D054041:Weapons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Piercing, Tattooing, Risk behaviour.