Respondents’ ratings of perceived barriers to implementing smoke-free policies
| Potential barrier | No barrier at all n (%) | Slight barrier n (%) | Moderate barrier n (%) | Severe barrier n (%) | Mean rating5-150 n (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internal barriers | |||||
| Negative employee morale | 194 (18.6) | 590 (56.5) | 236 (22.6) | 25 (2.4) | 2.1 |
| Reduced employee productivity | 471 (45.5) | 410 (39.6) | 145 (14.0) | 10 (1.0) | 1.7 |
| Lack of physician support | 736 (71.4) | 215 (20.9) | 69 (6.7) | 11 (1.1) | 1.4 |
| Inadequate availability of cessation programmes | 769 (75.4) | 175 (17.2) | 71 (7.0) | 5 (0.5) | 1.3 |
| External barriers | |||||
| Lack of patient acceptance | 294 (28.3) | 464 (44.6) | 231 (22.2) | 51 (4.9) | 2.0 |
| Lack of visitor acceptance | 337 (32.5) | 449 (43.3) | 211 (20.3) | 40 (3.9) | 2.0 |
| Lack of community support | 755 (73.3) | 210 (20.4) | 55 (5.3) | 10 (1.0) | 1.3 |
| Union contract restrictions | 918 (93.7) | 38 (3.9) | 14 (1.4) | 10 (1.0) | 1.1 |
↵5-150 Activities are ranked from highest to lowest mean rating within each category, with “No barrier at all” = 1 and “Severe barrier” = 4.