Prematurity affects the latency of certain auditory measures due to the maturation of myelinization. This primarily influences the latencies of which measure up to about 18 months?

• A. ABR Wave V latencies
• B. DPOAE responses
• C. TORCH factors
• D. WIPI scores

Answer: (A)

Prematurity slows the maturation of myelin in the auditory pathway, which lengthens neural conduction time. The auditory brainstem response (ABR) captures these conduction times as latencies of its waves, with Wave V being a robust and commonly analyzed component in infants. Because myelination progresses with age, ABR Wave V latencies tend to shorten toward typical adult values as a child approaches about 18 months. Therefore, prematurity most strongly influences these latencies among the given measures.

DPOAE responses reflect cochlear outer-hair-cell function and are not about neural conduction time, so they’re not described by latency changes in the same way. TORCH factors refer to congenital infections and are not a latency measure. WIPI scores assess speech perception rather than any neural latency timing.