[Objective] This study investigated the response of three global DEM data's accuracy to different terrain factors in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region in order to provide support for application and research of global DEM in various fields.[Methods] This study takes GLAH14 DEM data of ICESat/GLAS as referential data to explore the responses of accuracies of SRTM DEM, ASTER GDEM and HydroSHEDS DEM to terrain factors, e.g., slope, aspect, and terrain roughness.[Results] In general, the accuracy of STRM DEM was the highest, while that of HydroSHEDS DEM was the lowest. Different terrain factors had different effects on three DEM accuracy. Three DEM errors present several trends because of aspect distribution. Specifically, positive and negative measurement deviation values in the SRTM DEM located in southern and northwestern aspects, ASTER GDEM in northwestern and southeastern aspects, and HydroSHEDS DEM in eastern and southwestern aspects. There was obvious quadratic polynomial relationship between DEM accuracy and terrain roughness expressed as fractal dimension D.[Conclusion] In the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region, there have different levels of correlation between DEM accuracy and terrain factors, where SRTM DEM accuracy is the highest with slight influence from terrain factors, on the contrary HydroSHEDS DEM accuracy is the lowest with intense influence from terrain factors.