The medium, not the message. How tattoos correlate with early mortality.

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. METHODS Tattooed and nontattooed persons were classified by demography and forensics. Tattoos with negative or ominous messages were reviewed. Statistical comparisons were made. 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. 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.