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Aim Primary: To report a research protocol to analyse the relationship between the degree of heart failure and the health-related quality of life of patients and their family caregivers. Secondary: To identify the characteristics of heart failure patients and their caregivers and the association between these characteristics and hospital admissions. Moreover, to conduct a longitudinal analysis of the relationship between patients' and that of their family caregivers. Background As heart failure progresses, it reduces the patient's quality of life and progressive functional deterioration requires hospital admission and the provision of healthcare resources. The availability of a family caregiver is a key element in addressing and managing this healthcare problem and some research results have associated this factor with the prognosis for heart failure. Design Multicentre cohort nested case–control study. Methods Exploratory analysis: Descriptive statistics, measures of central tendency and dispersion or percentages. Bivariate analysis: Using Student's t-test and chi-square test, anova and non-parametric tests. Survival analysis: Kaplan–Meier curves. Multivariate analysis: Cox's proportional hazards model. All calculations performed with an alpha level of 0·05. Discussion Lack of family support for patients with HF or greater duration of care is associated with more hospitalizations and increased depression among caregivers. Further longitudinal studies with a large population sample are required.