TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - The medium, not the message: how tattoos correlate with early mortality
JO  - American journal of clinical pathology
A1  - Carson, Henry J.
SP  - 99
EP  - 103
VL  - 142
IS  - 1
N2  - OBJECTIVES: At autopsy, tattoos are recorded as part of the external examination. An investigation was undertaken to determine whether negative messages that are tattooed on a decedent may indicate a predisposition to certain fatal outcomes. <br><br>METHODS: Tattooed and nontattooed persons were classified by demography and forensics. Tattoos with negative or ominous messages were reviewed. Statistical comparisons were made. <br><br>RESULTS: The mean age of death for tattooed persons was 39 years, compared with 53 years for nontattooed persons (P =.0001). There was a significant contribution of negative messages in tattoos associated with nonnatural death (P =.0088) but not with natural death. However, the presence of any tattoo was more significant than the content of the tattoo. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Persons with tattoos appear to die earlier than those without. There may be an epiphenomenon between having tattoos and risk-taking behavior such as drug or alcohol use. A negative tattoo may suggest a predisposition to violent death but is eclipsed by the presence of any tattoo.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0002-9173
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1309/AJCPDOI32FWQLUEO
ID  - ref1
ER  -