Quaranta et al. BMC Public Health 2011, 11:774 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/11/774 Table 2 Answers to questions about young adults’ attitudes and practices towards body art Questions Have you been pierced? Have you been tattooed? If you don’t have a piercing, would you consider it in the future? If you don’t have a tattoo, would you consider it in the future? When you decided to undergo body art, did you ask someone’s advise? Were your parents informed when you underwent body art? Did you sign any informed consent? Were you informed about the risks related to such practices? Did the operator use sterile/disposable instruments? Did you report any complication after the intervention? Yes N° (%) 406 (25.4%) 249 (20.9%) 153 (9.6%) 525 (36.3%) 195 (42.1%) 338 (73.1%) 89 (19.3%) 343 (74.0%) 411 (88.7%) 61 (13.2%) No N° (%) 1.192 (74.6%) 779 (65.3%) 1.445 (90.4%) 651 (45.1%) 268 (57.9%) 125 (26.9%) 368 (79.4%) 104 (22.6%) 12 (2.7%) 402 (86.8%) Do not Know N° (%) 0 0 0 0 0 164 (13.7%) 269 (18.6%) 6 (1.3%) 16 (3.4%) 40 (8.6%) Page 4 of 8 Tot N° 1.598 1.192 1.598 1.445 463 463 463 463 463 463 With regard to the site carrying out the body art, 71.9% claimed they presented themselves to an author- ized centre, 13% to a beautician, 7.1% to the cheapest place, 4.2% to a walking (street) artist, 3.9% declared they had performed the body art by themselves at home or at someone’s house. In addition, 88.7% of the 463 who underwent body art stated that the instruments used were sterile and/or disposable and that the place was very clean (57.3%) (Figure 2). Sixty-one (13.2%) of the interviewees who underwent body art had had complications after it (Figure 3). Of the 61 who had experienced complications, 8 (13.1%) declared that they had had several symptoms at the same time. Furthermore, 9.2% of those who chose an authorized centre also had complications. Piercing Of the 1.598 included in the analysis, 406 subjects (25.4%) declared that they have a piercing. Of the 406 pierced people, 324 were female (79.8%) and 82 were male (20.2%), with a ratio M/F 1:4.0. The difference between male and female was statistically significant (c2 = 33.02; p < 0.001). A written informed consent, before the piercing, was required in 68/406 (16.8%). The mean age at the first piercing was 15.3 years (range 10-27; SD ± 2.9). Of the 406 pierced freshmen, 314 (77.3%) did the piercing when they were underage (<18 years), and of those 214 (68.2%) informed their parents before the practice. The mean number of piercings per pierced participant was 2.1 (range 1-16; SD ± 2.0). In particular, 54.6% of the 406 pierced freshmen confirmed they had only one, 24% two, 11.7% more than three, 9.6% three. There were no significant sex differences in the average num- ber of piercings per person (p = 0.79). In addition, 84.3% decided to place the piercing on the head (includ- ing face, scalp and neck), 9.4% on the trunk and 6.3% on the limbs. Among the interviewed who have stated that they have never had a piercing (74.6%), to the question “Would you consider it in the future?” 20.9% answered “yes”, 13.7% “don’t know”, and 65.3% “no”. A significant difference resulted between males and females: females showed a higher interest than males in a future piercing (c2 = 16.10, p < 0.001). Considering the variable of residence, of the 332 com- ing from main towns 168 (50.6%) had at least one pier- cing, while of the 1266 people coming from smaller municipalities 238 (18.8%) had at least one piercing. Figure 1 Reasons for making a body art. Others include: to emulate a familiar (3.1%); to better integrate in the society (4.5%); to feel better (6.5%), to better health conditions (0.6%); to follow a very important person (2.4%) Figure 2 Level of cleanliness of the place where the body art was carried out.