NIOSH-IREP Software

To determine probability of causation for a cancer case under the Act, the Department of Labor (DOL) uses a computer software application NIOSH has developed in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, called NIOSH-IREP (Interactive RadioEpidemiological Program).

NIOSH-IREP was adapted from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Interactive RadioEpidemiological Program (NIH-IREP) developed by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to update the 1985 NIH Radioepidemiological Tables.

NIOSH-IREP is a science-based tool that allows DOL to determine the probability a cancer was caused by a person’s radiation dose from nuclear weapons production work. The actual outcome of a case depends on a number of important factors such as the dose estimates of past exposures and the type of cancer that has been diagnosed. NIOSH is responsible for maintaining and updating this software and the scientific elements (cancer risk models) that it uses.

Access and Use

Online Access

The NIOSH-IREP interactive software program can be found at: https://www.niosh-irep.com/irep_niosh. Data can be entered manually or by using a NIOSH-provided input file. Users also have the ability to calculate PC from multiple primary cancers.

User’s Guide

• User’s Guide Version 5.8 [1 MB (22 pages)]
  December 16, 2015

  The main change in version NIOSH-IREP v.5.8 is an update to the latest version of the Analytica Decision Engine. There are some major benefits of this upgrade: not only will the new version of IREP be approximately 5 times faster than the previous version, but it will also be able to handle claims with up to a maximum 1,000 rows of exposure information (the previous version of NIOSH-IREP software was only able to run claims with up to 600 rows of exposures). A complete description with the changes that were made in NIOSH-IREP v.5.8 is provided below:

  1. Updated to 64-bit Host Server: The underlying computational platform used for NIOSH-IREP is known as Analytica Decision Engine (ADE). Earlier versions of NIOSH-IREP relied on a 32-bit version of ADE (version 3.0). In order to increase the processing capabilities of NIOSH-IREP, including the ability to evaluate claims with large numbers of exposures, NIOSH-IREP v.5.8 is now hosted on a 64-bit server running the most recent 64-bit version of ADE (version 4.6.1).

     The computational speed of NIOSH-IREP v.5.8 (64-bit) is now approximately 5 times faster than calculations performed with NIOSH-IREP v.5.7.1 (32-bit).

     PC results obtained from NIOSH-IREP v.5.8 will be similar (but not identical) to the same claim evaluated on previous versions. This small variation is due to the use of a more efficient random number generator implemented in the latest ADE software.

  2. Changed Minimum Exposure Age: The original domain of application of NIOSH-IREP included the ability to estimate Probability of Causation (PC) for exposures to radiation at ages 15 or greater. The minimum exposure age was lowered to 14 years in NIOSH-IREP v.5.7.1 and is being reduced to 10 years in NIOSH-IREP v.5.8.

Example Input Files

Below are example input files that may be uploaded into NIOSH-IREP. The User’s Guide provides instructions for uploading input files. Smmaries of the example files are also provided. To work properly, the files must first be saved to a disk or to your computer. From there, they can be uploaded directly into the program.

• Example 1a [(Microsoft Excel File; 169 KB)]
• Example 1b [(Microsoft Excel File; 169 KB)]
• Example 2a [(Microsoft Excel File; 169 KB)]
• Example 2b [(Microsoft Excel File; 169 KB)]
• Example 3 [(Microsoft Excel File; 169 KB)]
• Example 4 [(Microsoft Excel File; 169 KB)]

Technical Documentation

• NCI-CDC Working Group to Revise the 1985 NIH Radioepidemiological Tables [1.4 MB (126 pages)]
• NIOSH-IREP Technical Documentation [2.01 MB (77 pages)]
  • Pages i-20 [664 KB (24 pages)]
  • Pages 21-50 [771 KB (30 pages)]
  • Pages 51-73 [650 KB (23 pages)]
• Radiation Effectiveness Factors (REFs) for Use in Calculating Probability of Causation of Radiogenic Cancers [4.41 MB (77 pages)]
  • Pages 1-15 [896 KB (15 pages)]
  • Pages 16-30 [814 KB (15 pages)]
  • Pages 31-45 [996 KB (15 pages)]
  • Pages 46-60 [944 KB (15 pages)]
  • Pages 61-77 [883 KB (17 pages)]

 

Subject Matter Expert Review

• Comments from David G. Hoel, Ph.D., University Professor, Medical University of South Carolina. [157 KB (6 pages)]
• Comments from Richard Hornung, University of Cincinnati. [157 KB (4 pages)]
• Comments from David Richardson, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina. [52 KB (6 pages)]
• Comments from Roy E. Shore, Ph.D., Dr. P.H., Professor, Department of Environmental Medicine, Director, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, New York University, School of Medicine. [164 KB (4 pages)]
• Comments from Daniel O. Stram, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Keck School of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine, Division of Biostatistics, University of Southern California. [439 KB (5 pages)]
• Response to Subject Matter Expert Review Comments on NIOSH-IREP [917 KB (27 pages)]

Previous Versions

Information on previous updates to the NIOSH-IREP program can be found at https://www.niosh-irep.com/irep_niosh/update.asp.

Submitting Comments

The public may comment on NIOSH-IREP at any time. Comments can be sent by e-mail to dcas@cdc.gov.

Comments can be mailed to:

NIOSH-IREP Comments
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
1090 Tusculum Avenue, Mailstop C-45
Cincinnati, Ohio 45226