Objective To provide a scientific basis for the formulation of effective incentive measures for rural health workers,by analyzing the factors influencing their work enthusiasm and constructing an incentive mechanism framework.Methods A field questionnaire survey and personal in-depth interview were conducted on 803 health technicians from 45 township health centers in Shandong,Anhui and Shanxi provinces.The study covered economic,management,education and career supports aspects,and the data were analyzed in descriptive,multi-level model and correlation analyses.Results The work enthusiasm scoring of rural health workers was 89.83 + 9.54.Workload,doctor-patient relationship,work competence and income index were the four influencing factors,with the differences showing statistical significance(P ＜0.05).The income index (income expectancy/real income affects work) influences the enthusiasm negatively,while the rest of the factors were positive.Work enthusiasm was positively correlated with three dimensions of job performance.The satisfaction of interpersonal relationship,workload and competence were positively correlated with work enthusiasm.The correlation indexes are respectively 0.35,0.33 and 0.21 (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions To motivate primary health institutions and their health workers,the authorities should focus on the economic factors,and take into account non-economic ones,while improving the performance-based wage system and creating a fair workplace culture.