Fifty-foot walking time was used in 51 of 187 clinical therapeutic trials of antirheumatic drugs and in only 21 instances was statistical significance reached. Measurement of the 50-foot walking time showed no better performance in long-term trials of SAARDs than in short-term trials of NSAIDs. It is concluded that the 50-foot walking time is a poor outcome measure in rheumatic disease trials, despite a high intra- and interobserver reproducibility.