Due to geographic-specific patient and institutional-related barriers to care, data extrapolation and expert opinion on global burden of disease in otolaryngology–head and neck surgery may under- or overestimate the presence and effect of common head and neck conditions. The group of conditions that fail to present to local physicians and/or missed in data extrapolation methods is the unseen burden of disease. This article presents opinions from otolaryngology–head and neck surgery physicians in high- and low/middle-income countries to help explain the contributing factors and ultimately how to use this unseen burden of disease.
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