Diane Allen
Clinical Professor
Physical Therapy
School of Medicine

I was co-PI on a successfully completed three-year NICHD-funded (R15) study examining possible mechanisms of effect and the characteristics of patients that respond well to somatosensory intervention. Specifically, I supervised or performed the data analysis for all components of that study. As a recipient of one of the first PCORI pilot grants (Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute), I investigated patient-reported outcomes across six dimensions of movement for patients undergoing physical therapy. For the PCORI study, I used item response theory analysis techniques to compare patient perceptions of their movement abilities with the clinicians' emphases in therapy, noting that lack of agreement can lead to sub-optimal outcomes. As a professor at San Francisco State University with a joint appointment at the University of California San Francisco, I teach in an entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy program, the post-professional doctoral program, and a physical therapy neuroresidency program. I provide statistical support for students and colleagues in addition to instructing students in meta-analyses related to evidence-based practice. Several of my entry-level students' systematic review and meta-analysis projects have been published in peer-reviewed journals. I have authored or co-authored text-book chapters related to muscle tone, balance and falls, and neuromuscular diseases.

• Homelessness and rates of physical dysfunctions characteristic of premature geriatric syndromes: systematic review and meta-analysis.
  Physiotherapy theory and practice 2020 Suh K, Beck J, Katzman W, Allen DD
• Association of Continuous Assessment of Step Count by Remote Monitoring With Disability Progression Among Adults With Multiple Sclerosis.
  JAMA network open 2019 Block VJ, Bove R, Zhao C, Garcha P, Graves J, Romeo AR, Green AJ, Allen DD, Hollenbach JA, Olgin JE, Marcus GM, Pletcher MJ, Cree BAC, Gelfand JM
• Remote Physical Activity Monitoring in Neurological Disease: A Systematic Review.
  PloS one 2016 Block VA, Pitsch E, Tahir P, Cree BA, Allen DD, Gelfand JM
• Gaps between patients' reported current and preferred abilities versus clinicians' emphases during an episode of care: any agreement?
  Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation 2014 Allen DD, Talavera C, Baxter S, Topp K
• Effect of low-level laser therapy on pain and swelling in women with breast cancer-related lymphedema: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
  Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice 2014 Smoot B, Chiavola-Larson L, Lee J, Manibusan H, Allen DD
• Peripheral response to cervical or thoracic spinal manual therapy: an evidence-based review with meta analysis.
  The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy 2014 Chu J, Allen DD, Pawlowsky S, Smoot B
• Variability in postural control with and without balance-based torso- weighting in people with multiple sclerosis and healthy controls.
  Physical therapy 2014 Hunt CM, Widener G, Allen DD
• Standing data disproves biomechanical mechanism for balance-based torso-weighting.
  Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation 2013 Crittendon A, O'Neill D, Widener GL, Allen DD
• Assessing the gap between current movement ability and preferred movement ability as a measure of disability.
  Physical therapy 2011 Allen DD, Wagner JM
• Evaluating rehabilitation outcomes from the client's perspective by identifying the gap between current and preferred movement ability.
  Disability and rehabilitation 2010 Allen DD, Cott CA
• Using item response modeling methods to test theory related to human performance.
  Journal of applied measurement 2010 Allen DD