Objective: Spouse abuse is a major worldwide health concern and includes a wide range of emotional, physical and sexual maltreatments. The objective of present study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors of spouse abuse among women who were registered with health centers in the city of Sari (a city in the northern part of Iran and southern border of Caspian Sea).Methods: We distributed two specifically designed questionnaires among one thousand women whose name was in the list of health centers register in Sari. The subjects had been randomly selected from a list of 49330 registered women. Demographic data and data on spouse abuse were then analyzed by using Student’s unpaired t-test and Chi- square test.Results: Seventy three and a half percent of the women reported that they were subjected to physical abuse. The rate of emotional abuse was higher than the other methods of domestic violence. It was reported in 80.8% of the victims. Seventy three and half percent of women said that they were physically abused, and 49.6% of them reported sexual abuse. Younger age, un-employment, low level of education, substance misuse, presence of a physical or a psychological problem and having more children were risk factors for domestic violence.Conclusion: The study revealed a high prevalence of domestic maltreatment in the sample population. Authors believe that addressing unemployment, substance misuse problems and early treatment of mental illness in young couples in Iran will promote the psychological health of the family and reduce the risk of domestic violence.