OBJECTIVES: Sensory impaired individuals may face various structural and psychological barriers to access health care services compared to non-impaired individuals. Using CRC screening as a case study, the aim of this study was to determine whether there are differences in CRC screening rates between sensory impaired beneficiaries and beneficiaries without sensory impairment, and to determine what type of CRC screening they chose given the impairment. METHODS: We analyzed community-dwelling patients aged 50-75 years from the 2005 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) access to care files. A modified Poisson regression model was used to test the impact of sensory impairment on rates of CRC screening. Two self-reported screening tests were used. The first was whether the patient ‘ever had a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy’ and the second was whether the patient ‘ever had a fecal occult blood test (FOBT).’ Chi-Square test was used to examine differences between the sensory impaired and non-impaired groups and to summarize key categorical variables. RESULTS: Among 6,494 Medicare beneficiaries, 1,810 (28%) reported some sort of vision impairment and 1,911 (29%) reported some sort of hearing impairment. Multivariate regression models showed that beneficiaries with hearing impairment were 9% more likely to screen using any CRC screening method (RR: 1.09; 95% CI: 1.06-1.13) whereas beneficiaries with vision impairment were as likely as those with no impairment to use any CRC screening method (RR: 1.01; 95% CI: 0.98-1.05). Among those who screened for CRC, beneficiaries with any type of sensory impairment were indifferent between FOBT and colonoscopy (Hearing impairment: RR: 1.10; 95% CI: 0.99-1.23); vision impairment: RR: 1.03; 95% CI: 0.92-1.15). CONCLUSIONS: Beneficiaries with sensory impairment are more than or at least as likely as beneficiaries without sensory impairment to screen for CRC. Future studies should examine mediators and facilitators for CRC screening.