Abstract: Objective To compare the status of effort-reward imbalance(ERI)among the doctors with different demographic characteristics and to explore influencing factors of ERI for the identification of the staff at higher risk of ERI.Methods By using multi-stage stratified random sampling,1 910 doctors were selected from hospitals in Ji'nan,Weifang,and Dezhou city and surveyed with a self-designed Doctor Job Feel Scale.Descriptive analysis,one-way analysis of variance,and non-conditional logistic regression were adopted in data analyses.Results There were 57.1% of the doctors reporting perceived high-level ERI.The perceived ERI was significantly influenced by education background,professional title,whether being a doctor responsible for clinical lecture,and monthly income(all P< 0.05);the perceived ERI was positively associated with education background,with the highest ERI level (1.79±0.75)among the doctors with doctor degree;the doctors without professional title had the lowest ERI(1.40±0.73),whereas the resident doctors and doctors-in-charge had higher ERI(1.57±0.79 and 1.57±0.74)than the doctors with other professional title;doctors undertaking the role of clinical lecture had a higher ERI than those simply being a clinician(1.66±0.77 vs.1.52±0.70 );the perceived ERI was inversely correlated with income level,with the highest ERI score (1.61±0.87) for the doctors with a monthly income less than 2 000 RMB yuan and the lowest score (1.40±0.56)for those with more than 5 001 RMB yuan.Occupational risk(β=0.22),study pressure(β=0.18),and emotional control(β=0.17)were the top three influencing factors for perceived ERI among the doctors.Conclusion Attention should be paid to ERI among doctors,especially among those with higher educational background and those with lower academic title and income.