Heywood 2012 PDF
Heywood 2012 PDF
Heywood 2012 PDF
PURPOSE: Despite recent increases in the popularity of tattooing, little is known about the prevalence
and characteristics of adults who have ever been tattooed. We investigated demographic and behavioral
correlates of ever getting tattooed in an adult population.
METHODS: Computer-assisted telephone interviews were completed by a representative sample of
8656 men and women ages 1664 years in Australia.
RESULTS: A total of 14.5% of respondents had ever been tattooed, and 2.4% of respondents had been
tattooed in the year before the interview. Men were more likely than women to report a tattoo, but the high-
est rates of tattooing were found among women in their 20s (29.4%). Men and women ages 2039 were most
likely to have been tattooed, as were men with lower levels of education, tradesmen, and women with live-
out partners. Tattooing was also associated with risk-taking behaviours, including smoking, greater numbers
of lifetime sexual partners, cannabis use (women only) and ever having depression (men only).
CONCLUSIONS: Tattooing has increased in popularity during the past decade. Yet tattoos still appear to
be a marker for risk-taking behavior in adults.
Ann Epidemiol 2012;22:5156. 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1047-2797/$ - see front matter
360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010 doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2011.10.005
52 Heywood et al. AEP Vol. 22, No. 1
WHO GETS TATTOOS? January 2012: 5156
TABLE 1. Demographic and behavioral correlates of ever getting a tattoo for 4290 men
% tattoo Unadjusted OR Adjusted OR*
Demographics
Age (4290) p ! .001 p ! .001
1619 (367) 5.4 0.19 (0.100.35) 0.27 (0.140.55)
2029 (737) 22.3 0.95 (0.731.23) 1.03 (0.771.39)
3039 (810) 23.2
4049 (1054) 16.3 0.64 (0.510.81) 0.60 (0.460.77)
50 (1322) 8.7 0.32 (0.240.41) 0.33 (0.250.44)
Education (4289) p ! .001 p ! .001
Less than secondary (1056) 21.7 1.37 (1.121.67) 1.58 (1.251.99)
Secondary/college (2205) 16.8
Postsecondary (1028) 5.6 0.29 (0.220.39) 0.38 (0.280.52)
Occupation (4202) p ! .001 p ! .001
Professional (1594) 9.4
Associate professional (823) 15.0 1.69 (1.292.21) 1.08 (0.811.45)
Tradesperson (1151) 23.1 2.89 (2.323.59) 1.70 (1.332.17)
Unskilled (634) 18.1 2.13 (1.602.82) 1.22 (0.871.70)
Residential location (4228) p Z .004 p Z .26
Cities/metro (2196) 13.7
Regional/remote (2032) 17.1 1.30 (1.081.55) 1.13 (0.921.39)
Country of birth (4288) p Z .53 p Z .11
Australia (3313) 15.6
Overseas (975) 14.7 0.93 (0.751.16) 1.23 (0.951.58)
Partner status (4290) p Z .50 p Z .07
No partner (989) 15.0 0.99 (0.791.24) 0.73 (0.550.95)
Live-out partner (465) 17.5 1.19 (0.871.62) 0.88 (0.631.25)
Live-in partner (2836) 15.1
Sexual identity (4290) p Z .54 p Z .77
Heterosexual (4187) 15.3
Other (103) 17.6 1.18 (0.692.02) 0.91 (0.501.68)
Behavior
Current smoker (4284) p ! .001 p ! .001
Nonsmoker (3221) 10.7
Smoker (1063) 29.6 3.53 (2.934.24) 2.04 (1.652.51)
Alcohol use (4289) p Z .008 p Z .04
None (629) 12.1
Less than weekly (1149) 17.9 1.58 (1.172.14) 1.24 (0.881.75)
Weekly to daily (2511) 15.0 1.28 (0.961.69) 0.93 (0.671.29)
Cannabis 12m (4281) p ! .001 p Z .18
No (3795) 13.5
Yes (486) 29.9 2.74 (2.173.45) 1.21 (0.921.59)
Depression (4270) p ! .001 p Z .04
No (3668) 14.3
Yes (602) 22.0 1.70 (1.362.11) 1.30 (1.011.67)
Lifetime sex partners (4177) p ! .001 p ! .001
01 (707) 4.2
25 (1191) 10.7 2.74 (1.704.40) 2.07 (1.263.38)
610 (907) 16.4 4.49 (2.817.17) 3.18 (1.955.18)
11 (1372) 24.4 7.38 (4.7011.57) 5.06 (3.158.13)
History of STI (4290) p ! .001 p Z .07
No (3601) 14.2
Yes (689) 21.6 1.67 (1.352.06) 1.25 (0.981.60)
AOR Z adjusted odds ratio; CI Z confidence interval; STI Z sexually transmitted infection.
*AORs and 95% CIs for having a tattoo vs not having a tattoo. Adjusted for age, education, occupation, use of tobacco, alcohol, depression, and lifetime number of sex partners.
have a tattoo. Similar findings relating to education attain- greater numbers of lifetime sexual partners. Associations
ment were also reported in the U.S. national study (19). between tattooing and risk-taking behavior have also been
Having been tattooed also correlated with certain risk- reported in studies among adults (19) and adolescents
taking behaviors, most notably smoking, cannabis use, and (4, 12, 1518). Although the direction of the relationship
AEP Vol. 22, No. 1 Heywood et al. 55
January 2012: 5156 WHO GETS TATTOOS?
TABLE 2. Demographic and behavioral correlates of ever getting a tattoo for 4366 women
% tattoo Unadjusted OR Adjusted OR*
Demographics
Age (4366) p ! .001 p ! .001
1619 (318) 6.9 0.26 (0.140.47) 0.30 (0.150.57)
2029 (697) 29.4 1.45 (1.141.84) 1.41 (1.081.86)
3039 (975) 22.3
4049 (1091) 9.8 0.38 (0.290.49) 0.37 (0.280.50)
50 (1285) 3.3 0.12 (0.080.17) 0.14 (0.090.20)
Education (4365) p ! .001 p ! .001
Less than secondary (1212) 13.5 0.86 (0.691.06) 1.15 (0.891.50)
Secondary/college (2083) 15.5
Post-secondary (1070) 10.0 0.60 (0.470.78) 0.52 (0.390.69)
Occupation (4252) p ! .001 p Z .83
Professional (1454) 9.8
Associate Professional (1654) 15.2 1.64 (1.312.06) 1.09 (0.831.42)
Tradesperson (182) 14.9 1.60 (1.012.55) 1.04 (0.601.82)
Unskilled (962) 17.3 1.91 (1.492.46) 1.16 (0.841.61)
Residential location (4309) p Z .51 p Z .10
Cities/metro (2200) 13.2
Regional/remote (2109) 13.9 1.06 (0.881.28) 1.20 (0.971.49)
Country of birth (4365) p Z .002 p Z .63
Australia (3427) 14.5
Overseas (938) 10.3 0.68 (0.530.86) 0.93 (0.711.23)
Partner status (4366) p ! .001 p Z .03
No partner (981) 14.3 1.30 (1.031.63) 1.24 (0.941.63)
Live-out partner (463) 25.6 2.66 (2.033.49) 1.49 (1.082.05)
Live-in partner (2922) 11.4
Sexual identity (4366) p Z .01 p Z .70
Heterosexual (4257) 13.3
Other (109) 24.0 2.06 (1.193.57) 1.14 (0.582.23)
Behavior
Current smoker (4361) p ! .001 p ! .001
Non-smoker (3381) 9.1
Smoker (980) 29.2 4.12 (3.405.00) 2.57 (2.033.25)
Alcohol use (4366) p ! .001 p Z .08
None (1136) 10.1
Less than weekly (1510) 16.3 1.74 (1.352.23) 1.31 (0.991.75)
Weekly to daily (1720) 13.6 1.41 (1.091.80) 1.05 (0.771.42)
Cannabis 12m (4359) p ! .001 p Z .003
No (4089) 11.8
Yes (270) 40.4 5.07 (3.826.71) 1.70 (1.202.39)
Depression (4361) p Z .005 p Z .81
No (3336) 12.7
Yes (1025) 16.4 1.35 (1.101.66) 0.97 (0.761.24)
Lifetime sex partners (4202) p ! .001 p ! .001
01 (1197) 3.3
25 (1628) 11.4 3.76 (2.535.59) 2.66 (1.764.02)
610 (788) 20.3 7.41 (4.9311.13) 4.40 (2.856.78)
11 (589) 30.0 12.48 (8.3218.74) 6.41 (4.139.96)
History of STI (4366) p ! .001 p Z .61
No (3639) 12.5
Yes (727) 19.1 1.65 (1.332.06) 0.93 (0.711.22)
AOR Z adjusted odds ratio; CI Z confidence interval; STI Z sexually transmitted infection.
*AOR and 95% CIs for having a tattoo versus not having a tattoo. Adjusted for age, education, partner status, use of tobacco and cannabis, and lifetime number of sex partners.
between tattooing and risk-taking behavior in adults is not Strengths of this study are the large sample size and the
currently known, it may be that in some groups tattooing representative nature of the sample. Limitations include
still represents and is associated with resistance and rebel- reliance on self-report and social desirability bias. The
lion towards more conservative parts of society. current study says nothing about motivations for being
56 Heywood et al. AEP Vol. 22, No. 1
WHO GETS TATTOOS? January 2012: 5156
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