Socio-epidemiologic aspects and cutaneous side effects of permanent tattoos in Germany – Tattoos are not restricted to a specific social phenotype

Abstract

Background: More and more people of all age classes have a tattoo. Intriguingly, there are multiple prejudices in the general population and published data that concern tattooed persons, such as being criminals, having a low education, being alcohol or drug abusers, or more risky in their life style. Objective: To obtain and to evaluate sociodemographic data on tattooed persons, to investigate the incidence of tattoo-related cutaneous complications and to define personal risk factors and course of the persons after being tattooed concerning behavior of personal environment. Patients and Methods: We interviewed 426 participants with already existing tattoos and 20 participants just before getting a new tattoo by using an online questionnaire. The participators were asked about socio-epidemiologic aspects of tattoos in general and special aspects of their own tattoo(s) in particular. There were no exclusion criteria. Results: Tattoos are interesting for people seeking popular body art, esp. university graduates and financially-secure individuals. 446 persons participated in this study. Most of the persons were female with a mean age of 35. Local pruritus around the tattooed area was the most common cutaneous side effect among the participants. 93.5% of the participants did not want a tattoo removal. Intriguingly, most of the participants experienced no career problems related to the tattoo(s). Limitations: The study population is not representative as we included only persons being tattooed prior to or getting newly tattooed. Furthermore, there is a potential selection bias as the participation in this study was voluntary. Only persons that felt involved by the flyer did answer the questionnaire. Conclusion: The present data shows that common tattooed persons are not low educated criminals with any drug or alcohol abuse or with risky life style. Nowadays being tattooed encompasses a kind of body art and displays a certain kind of lifestyle habit.

Tattoo complications in treated and non‐treated psoriatic patients

“…These findings are similar to those of a Finnish study of tattooing and psoriasis in 90 patients, in which 28% of non‐tattooed patients indicated that fear of a worsening of their psoriasis had prevented them from receiving a tattoo . The characteristics of the tattoos in our study population were broadly similar to those reported in previous studies, with our study revealing a predominance of monochrome (black) tattoos, located on the upper limb and trunk and a mean of 2.2 tattoos per patient. However, the total tattooed area per person was larger in our study than that reported previously: the tattoos in our study most frequently covered between 1 and 5% of the body surface area, whereas in the study by Høgsberg et al ., they most commonly covered between 0.1 and 1% …”

“…The rates of 2.1% for oedema, 2.7% for pruritus, 0.2% for allergies and 0.7% for infections observed in our study are similar to those reported in the general population in a recent French study . However, the complication rates in our psoriasis population were much lower than those reported in the general population by other studies . The majority of tattoos in our study were monochrome.…”

“…The majority of tattoos in our study were monochrome. Thus, the very low rate of allergies occurring in our study could be explained by the fact that allergies are generally more common with coloured tattoos, especially red ones . Also, we did not take into account late‐onset allergies, which could explain this low percentage.…”

“…We also found that tattooing induced psoriasis flares in 3.5% of cases, including psoriasis arthritis. The complication rates after tattooing reported in the literature are extremely variable, ranging from 2.1 to 67.5% and depending of the methodology: prospective studies, self‐reported declaration, delay of analysis… . Kluger et al .…”

“…. .. 4,5,[12][13][14][15][16] Kluger et al found that minor symptomssuch as onset of pruritus and oedema more than three months after tattooingwere frequent (20%), but that persistent and chronic reactions after tattooing were rare, occurring in less than one out of 10 individuals. 14 The rates of 2.1% for oedema, 2.7% for pruritus, 0.2% for allergies and 0.7% for infections observed in our study are similar to those reported in the general population in a recent French study.…”