One-fifth of elderly people have serious eye problems, with more than half of sufferers having cataracts, according to a survey.
Doctors at Chinese University, which carried out the poll, said the rate was higher than in the West because people in Hong Kong were fatalistic and shied away from operations.
At least 272,500 elderly people would suffer serious visual disabilities by 2013, the study showed.
The director of the university's centre for clinical trials and epidemiological research, Joseph Lau Tak-fai, said the study found old people were reluctant to have simple operations.
'They're very pessimistic and think that once you get to a certain age, you're going to get all kinds of sickness,' he said. 'Psychologically they think it is a natural consequence of ageing and there is no point in having operations.' A sample of 3,441 people aged 60 and above showed 19 per cent suffered a severe visual disability, the problem being more acute in the over-80s, with a 45 per cent prevalence rate.
Cataracts were the most common problem - affecting 57 per cent of those with a disability - but only nine per cent had had surgery.
Dr John Michon, of the department of ophthalmology and visual sciences, said the problem was higher than in the West.
