Comparative Study of Spiritual Health between Female Prisoners and Nonprisoners in Urmia County

Background and Objectives: Women comprise a small yet rising prison population whose health needs have been disregarded in most communities. Spiritual health represents a health aspect and therefore should be studied. The aim of the current study was to compare spiritual health between female prisoners and nonprisoners. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 300 women (150 prisoners and 150 nonprisoners). Paloutzian & Ellison's Spiritual Well-Being Scale was used to measure spiritual health. Demographic characteristics were gathered using a researcher-developed demographic questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted using independent t-test and ANOVA in SPSS 16. Results: The mean age of the participants was 33.42 (9.9) years. According to the findings, Physical health, religious, and spiritual health levels were significantly lower among the prisoners than the nonprisoners. One-way ANOVA results demonstrated that spiritual health was statistically significantly associated with marital status, economic status, and history of neurological diseases in both groups. Conclusion: Female prisoners represent one of the vulnerable populations of the community and have low levels of spiritual health that is the most important human aspect and helps achieve meaning and purpose in life. It is necessary to adopt evidence-based, gender specific policies to promote female prisoners' spiritual health so that other health aspects of this population can be promoted.