Background and Objective : Spouse abuse, which has physical and psychological consequences on victims, is one of the most important health problems in many countries. The purpose of the present study was to investigate wife abuse among the women referred to health care centers of Gorgan, 2008.

  Material and Methods : The subjects of this descriptive analytical study were 300 married women selected by easy sampling. Data collection was performed by using "Spouse Abuse" questionnaire, consisting of 27 items which are related to emotional, physical and sexual domains. The validity was confirmed by faculty members and reliability by alpha cronbach (=0.86).

  Results : The results show that wife Abuse is severe (6.5%), no report of Spouse Abuse (16.5%), sexual abuse (23%), physical punishment (54.5%), and psychological abuse (82.5%). The rate of Spouse Abuse is lower in younger couples. There is significant relationship between wife Abuse and the age of women, smoking and drug abuse of their husbands (P=0.000).

  Conclusion : All kind of wife abuse has devastating health effects on women
well-being. Regarding the high rate of psychological abuse in relationships, it is necessary to consider marital counseling as a priority for mental health of families.

Background and objective:­ In accordance with­ general studies, the prevalence of psychological disorders is increasing worldwide in that it is the cause of one percent of mortality  rate in the world esp. Iran. Because of susceptibility of women to psychological disorders and fewer studies in this field, this study aimed at evaluating ­mental health status of over- fifteen- year- old women in urban population of Gorgan, Iran. 

Material and Methods: In this study, 1088 women aged over 15 were selected by randomized cluster sampling. The data was collected by demographic data sheet and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), and analyzed by Chi Square and Fisher Exact test.   

Results: Based on our findings, the prevalence of psychiatric disorders is 17.5%.­ ­Based on cut-off score of 6 for each of the four disorders, Anxiety disorder and insomnia are with the highest prevalence (5.5%) and depression is with the lowest (3.1%). The Prevalence of disorders has positive significant relationship with variables like age,­ ­marital status and family history of addiction.

Conclusion: The prevalence of present study is average compared to similar reports. Nevertheless it is a necessity to have further attention to the mental health of women and it is essential to train efficient workforce and provide appropriate facilities in order to give mental health services to both rural and urban population.